NYU Center for Bioethics

As science, technology, and medicine advance, society will confront new ethical dilemmas at the nexus of public health policy and individual choice. The Master of Arts in Bioethics at the College of Global Public Health provides a strong philosophical foundation for navigating these urgent questions.

Amber M Celedonio

Can and Should Machines Learn Morality? Dilemmas, Paradoxes, and Pluralism with Professor Yejin Choi

Can and Should Machines Learn Morality? Dilemmas, Paradoxes, and Pluralism
Wednesday, September 6th 2023

Time: 3:00 – 4:30 pm
708 Broadway, Room 801

This talk aims to toss around several thorny questions such as (1) can and should machines learn morality, (2) can AI be truly safe without basic sense of ethics and morals, (3) might the so-called “AI alignment” be at odds with “value pluralism”, and (4) is it even possible for philosophers to meaningfully collaborate with scientists on AI. What makes these questions extra challenging are the paradoxical aspects of AI’s (in)capabilities, the significant power implications of AI, let alone the ongoing debate about morality among humanity at large. 

To ground these questions to some degree, I will start by briefly introducing Delphi, an experimental framework based on deep neural networks trained to (pretend to) reason about descriptive ethical judgments, e.g., “helping a friend” is generally good, while “helping a friend spread fake news” is not. 

I’ll then share the lessons learned, and present a range of follow-up efforts including Value Kaleidoscope, a new computational attempt to modeling pluralistic values, rights, and duties that are often intertwined in a real-life situation (e.g., “lying to a friend to protect their feelings”, where honesty and friendship are at odds). 

Questions?
Contact us at bioethics@nyu.edu

RSVP

The Value of Unity with Professor Leif Wenar

 
The Value of Unity
Friday, April 14th
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
708 Broadway, Room 1001
Reception to follow, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
708 Broadway, Room 301
 
This project outlines a new approach to intrinsic value, an enhanced desire-satisfaction theory structured around logical relations that desires have to the world and to each other. This new theory overcomes several familiar challenges to the traditional theories, while bettering them either on simplicity or on fit with our confident evaluative judgments. The theory’s value pluralism shows why a great many lifestyles and cultural practices are good in themselves, while anti-social actions like bullying and racist domination must be bad. By the end, the article aims to give sense to the thought that value emerges from unities with the world, with each other, and within ourselves.
 
Leif Wenar is Olive H. Palmer Professor of Humanities, Professor of Philosophy, and by courtesy, Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, and a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. He is the author of Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World.’
 

William C. Stubing Memorial Lecture: Are Robots Racist? Rethinking Automation and Inequity in Healthcare

The NYU School of Global Public Health and its Center for Bioethics are partnering with The Greenwall Foundation to sponsor the 2022 William C. Stubing Memorial Lecture 

NOVEMBER 15TH
5:30-8pm
NYU Law School, Greenberg Lounge, 40 Washington Square South / Online

We are pleased to welcome Ruha Benjamin, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, and Meghna Chakrabarti, host and editor of WBUR’s On Point, for a conversation exploring ethical issues in artificial intelligence and healthcare, with a focus on racial equity.

In-person registration is limited. All attendees are required to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 (once eligible and by NYU’s deadline). Proof of complete vaccination will be checked at the door. Current NYU students, faculty, and staff must show their Violet Go pass to enter.  

Unable to attend in person? The conversation portion of this event will be livestreamed beginning at 6:30PM.

About the Speakers:
Ruha Benjamin is Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab, and author of the award-winning book Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, among many other publications. Her work investigates the social dimensions of science, medicine, and technology with a focus on the relationship between innovation and inequity, health and justice, knowledge and power. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar Award and the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton. Her most recent book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, was born out of the twin plagues of COVID-19 and police violence, and offers a practical and principled approach to transforming our communities and helping us build a more just and joyful world. 

Meghna Chakrabarti serves as host and editor of WBUR’s On Point. She is the former host of Radio Boston, WBUR’s acclaimed weekday show with a focus on news, in-depth interviews with extraordinary people, and analysis on broader issues that have an impact on Boston and beyond. She also served as the primary fill-in host for Here & Now, NPR and WBUR’s co-produced national midday news program. And she is the host of Modern Love: The Podcast, a collaboration of WBUR and The New York Times. Radio Boston has been frequently recognized for journalistic excellence by many of the nation’s top journalism associations, including a regional Edward R. Murrow award for best news documentary, among others. Before taking the helm at Radio Boston in 2010, she reported on New England transportation and energy issues for WBUR’s news department, and produced and directed On Point for five years. Chakrabarti has won awards for individual reporting from both the Associated Press and the Radio Television News Directors Association for her writing, hard news reporting, and use of sound.