Conference merging technology, ethics begins Oct. 31

Craig Chandler | University Communication

A new conference examining technology from an ethical perspective is coming to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Nebraska’s inaugural Ethics and Broader Considerations of Technology Conference will be held from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 at the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts. The regional event features a student poster session, First Friday art presentation, workshop for educators and resource fair with local and national technology start-ups.

Four philosophy professors from across the country are also slated to present at the conference. Speakers include:

Alexis Elder, University of Minnesota-Duluth
Ryan Jenkins, California Polytechnic State University
Erica Neely, Ohio Northern University
Ariela Tubert, University of Puget Sound

Attendees can expect to learn about emerging topics such as biases in algorithms, software and facial recognition, as well as predictive policing.

“What we’re trying to do with Broader Considerations of Technology is paint a clearer picture of what technology is, what its potential is to impact society and how it does impact society,” said Colton Harper, graduate student in computer science and one of the principal organizers of the conference.

Carson Center students — Members of the student organization Broader Considerations of Technology are the principal organizers of this year's Ethics and Broader Considerations of Technology Conference. Pictured left to right are Achintya Handa, Colton Harper, Ritvik Handa and Sakib Samar.

Harper and other members of Nebraska’s Broader Considerations of Technology student organization were the driving force behind the conference. They brought the idea to the university’s Robert J. Kutak Center for the Teaching and Study of Applied Ethics last year, and with the help of assistant director Adam Thompson, have built the event from the ground up.

“Our student group wanted to get people in the same room and expand the bounds of what we already know. We thought the conference would be a perfect way to do that,” Harper said.

The conference is being sponsored by the College of Law, Center for Civic Engagement, Student Affairs, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Department of Philosophy, Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, Robert J. Kutak Center for the Teaching and Study of Applied Ethics, Initialize UNL, IfThen and Bosch.