Can ethics and law keep up with new technologies?
The IT, Ethics, and Law Lecture Series is an ongoing series of panel discussions and lectures focused on the ethical, social, and legal implications of information technologies. Co-sponsored by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the High Tech Law Institute, the program looks at cutting-edge technologies and the challenges they raise.
Upcoming Events in the Series
There are no upcoming events at this time. Please check back for future conversations in this series.
Previous Events in the Series
AI-Powered Brain Implants: Novel Ethical Challenges
May 2, 2024 – In this webinar, panelists highlighted key promises and concerns associated with developments in the field of neuroscience, addressing the ethical analysis required by the development and deployment of brain implants.
Panelists:
Julia Scott, assistant professor, and director of the Brain and Memory Care Lab, Santa Clara University School of Engineering
Erick Ramirez, associate professor, philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences
Matthew J. Gaudet, director of ethics programs, School of Engineering
Dorothée Caminiti, director, bioethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Moderator:
Brian Green, director of technology ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Access the video: AI-Powered Brain Implants: Novel Ethical Challenges
Generative AI: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Questions
May 16, 2023 – This panel discussion explored the legal and ethical issues arising from the use of generative AI tools by artists and intellectual property owners. Topics covered include training data collection, fair use, impact on creativity and creative labor, and balancing of various rights.
Panelists:
Dr. Maya Ackerman: Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Santa Clara University and CEO of WaveAI.
Professor Kathy Aoki: Lee and Seymour Graff Professor/Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Santa Clara University
Professor Tyler Ochoa: Professor of Law, School of Law, Santa Clara University
Moderator:
Irina Raicu: Director, Internet Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Access the video: Generative AI: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Questions
Determining Users' Ages Online: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Considerations
December 1, 2022 – In an effort to increase the safety of the Internet for children, regulators across the globe are requiring Internet services to determine their users’ ages. But will these efforts actually improve online safety for children, and, if so, at what cost? Three experts shared their diverse perspectives on the issues at stake.
Moderator:
Irina Raicu, Director, Internet Ethics Programs, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Access the video: Determining Users' Ages Online: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Considerations
Virtual Reality, Real Virtues, and Augmented Norms and Laws
March 10, 2022 - Webinar about some of the novel ethical and legal issues associated with the widening adoption of VR and AR technology, and new norms and laws that might develop in response to the ecosystem that some call the “metaverse.”
Speakers:
Brittan Heller, attorney
Erick Ramirez, associate professor, philosophy, Santa Clara University
Moderator:
Irina Raicu, director, Internet Ethics Programs at the Ethics Center
Access the video: Virtual Reality, Real Virtues, and Augmented Norms and Laws
The Ethics of Digital Currencies
November 2, 2021 - As some governments begin to issue their own digital currencies while others ban or increasingly seek regulation, what are the ethical concerns and opportunities that come with this reinvention of money?
Speakers
Seoyoung Kim, associate professor of finance and business analytics, Leavey School of Business
Scott Shipman JD ’99, Chief Legal Officer, Dapper Labs
Hersh Shefrin, Mario L. Belotti Professor of Finance, Leavey School of Business
Susan Kennedy, assistant professor of philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences
This event was not recorded.
AI/ML for Clinical Decision Making: Should Patients Be Informed?
April 14, 2021
Speaker
Charles Binkley, MD, director of bioethics at the Ethics Center
Access the video: AI/ML for Clinical Decision Making: Should Patients Be Informed?
Related Series
Artificial Intelligence for Social Impact and Equity Series
November 26, 2019 - Smart Governance for Smart Cities: Rights and Justice in the Age of Civic AI
Speakers
Dr. Ann Cavoukian, privacy expert
Joe Simitian, Santa Clara County Supervisor
Jake Snow, ACLU attorney
November 18, 2019 - Content Moderation Policy and Solutions
Speaker
Del Harvey, VP for Trust and Safety, Twitter
November 11, 2019 - AI Ethics, Law, and Human Progress
Speaker
Shannon Vallor, Professor, Santa Clara University
March 12, 2019 - Silicon Valley and the Challenge of Ethics: Prognosis for a Sick Patient
Speaker
Kara Swisher, New York Times tech columnist
Listen to the podcast
September 24, 2018 - How to Do Good AI and Data Science (By Living Your Ethics)
Speaker
DJ Patil, former chief data scientist of the United States and current head of technology at Devoted Health
Watch the video
May 14, 2018 - Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech
Speaker
Cyrus Farivar, senior business editor, Ars Technica
January 26, 2018 - Online Rumors, Conspiracy Theories, and Disinformation: Informatics and Civil Discourse
Speaker
Kate Starbird, assistant professor, Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington
October 24, 2017 - AI: Ethical Challenges and a Fast-Approaching Future
Speakers
Maya Ackerman, assistant professor, SCU School of Engineering
Sanjiv Das, William and Janice Terry Professor of Finance and Business Analytics, Leavey School of Business
Brian Green, assistant director of Campus Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, and adjunct professor of ethics, SCU School of Engineering
Watch the Video
September 22, 2016 - Sentenced by Algorithm: Accountability and Algorithmic Decision Making
Speaker
Julia Angwin, senior reporter at ProPublica
Listen to the Podcast
March 2, 2016 - Cyberwarfare Ethics: What You Need to Know
Speaker
Professor Patrick Lin - Director of the Ethics and Emerging Sciences Group at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
September 22, 2015 - Tech Innovation Policy at The White House: Law and Ethics
Speaker
Associate Professor Colleen Chien - White House Senior Advisor, Intellectual Property and Innovation.
February 25, 2015 - Recording, Recalling, Retrieving, Remembering: Memory in the Information Age
Speaker
Luciano Floridi, professor of philosophy and ethics of information, Oxford University, and member of Google’s advisory board on the right to be forgotten.
Watch the Video
November 20, 2014 - Ethical Hacking
Speakers
Abe Chen, director, Information and Product Security, Tesla Motors
Marisa Fagan, director of Crowd Ops, Bugcrowd
Manju Mude, chief security officer, Splunk
Seth Schoen, senior staff technologist, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Alex Wheeler, director, Accuvant R&D
October 29, 2013 - The Ethics of Online Price Discrimination
Speakers
Eric Goldman, professor of law, SCU, and director, High Tech Law Institute
Kirthi Kalyanam, J.C. Penney Research Professor and director, Retail Management Institute, SCU
Ashkan Soltani, independent researcher and affiliate, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
Listen to the Podcast
January 23, 2013 - Privacy by Design: An Engineering Ethics Perspective
Speakers
Ben Adida, director of identity, Mozilla
Brian Kennish, co-founder, Disconnect
Arvind Narayanan, assistant professor of computer science, Princeton
Irina Raicu, Internet ethics program manager, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Watch the Video
September 20, 2012 - A Conversation with the FTC Commissioner
Speaker
Julie Brill, Federal Trade Commissioner
April 9, 2012 - Hacking, Ethics, and the Future of Internet Security
Speaker
Joseph Menn, reporter, Reuters
March 8, 2012 - Social Networks, the Death of Privacy, and a Constitution for Facebook Nation
Speaker
Lori Andrews, author of I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy.
January 24, 2012 - A Conversation With Craig Newmark
Speaker
Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and craigconnects
November 9, 2011 - Kiva: Eliminating Poverty Through Microfinance
Speaker
Matt Flannery, cofounder and CEO, Kiva
April 19, 2011 - My Life as an Engineer: The Search for Integrity
Speaker
Charles “Chuck” Geschke, co-founder, Adobe
January 24, 2011 - Play When Reality is Broken: Videogames and the Recovery of the Future
Speaker
Jane McGonigal, author, "Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Happy and How They Can Change the World" (Penguin 2011) and director, game research and development, Institute for the Future
October 5, 2010 - Twitter: An Insider's View
Speaker
Alexander Macgillivray, General Counsel, Twitter Inc.
April 7, 2010 - What the Surprising Failure of Data Anonymization Means for Law and Policy
Speakers
Paul Ohm, Associate Professor of Law University of Colorado Law School
Cynthia Dwork, Principal Researcher, Microsoft
Chad Raphael, Associate Professor of Communication, Santa Clara University
January 20, 2010 - Privacy Protections for Patient-Empowered Care
Speakers
Deven McGraw, Director of the Health Privacy Project – Center for Democracy
Paul Tang, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer – Palo Alto Medical Foundation
October 19, 2009 - Minds for Sale: Ubiquitous Human Computing and the Future of the Internet
Speaker
Jonathan Zittrain, professor, Harvard Law School; Co-Founder, Berkman Center for Internet and Society
January 28, 2009 - Protecting Personal Identities Online
Speaker
Erika Rottenberg, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, LinkedIn
October 28, 2008 - Information Technology Policy and the Next American President
Speakers
Larry Magid, CBS News technology analyst
Geoffrey Bowker, executive director, SCU Center for Science, Technology, and Society
Kirk O. Hanson, executive director, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
May 15, 2008 - The World that Wikipedia Made
Speakers
Carl Hewitt, emeritus, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Pedro Hernández-Ramos, associate director, Center for Science, Technology, and Society
October 2, 2007 - Trust Online
Speakers
Richard Clarke, national coordinator for security and counterterrorism, and special advisor to the president on cyber security
Dave Cullinane, chief information security officer, eBay Inc.
May 14, 2007 - The Present and Future of Social Networking
Speakers
Marian Liu, multi-media entertainment critic, San Jose Mercury News
Jim Squires, vice president of products, Ning
Kaitlin Thompson, SCU sophomore
Shannon Vallor, assistant professor of philosophy, SCU
Read the Transcript
March 26, 2007 - Virtues and Vices of Open Source
Speaker
Eben Moglen, chairman, Software Freedom Law Center, general counsel, Free Software Foundation
May 16, 2006 - Traces of Ourselves: The Ethics and Politics of Databases
Speakers
Mitch Kapor, founder, Lotus Development Corp., president and chair, Open Source Applications Foundation
John Arquilla, professor of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School
Leigh Star, senior scholar, Center for Science, Technology, and Societ
Kirk O. Hanson, executive director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, panel moderator
February 27, 2006 - The Ethics and Politics of Search Engines
Speakers
Peter Norvig, director of research, Google
Terry Winograd, professor of computer science, Stanford University
Geoffrey Bowker, executive director, Center for Science, Technology, and Society
Kirk O. Hanson, executive director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, moderator
Introduced by S. Leigh Star, senior scholar, Center for Science, Technology, and Society
Read the Transcript
November 29, 2005 - Video Gaming: Playing With Ethics
Speakers
Leland Yee, California state assemblyman, author of a measure to prevent the sale of violent games to minors
Mike Antonucci, tech writer, San Jose Mercury News
Kristin Asleson McDonnell, CEO, LimeLife
Caroline Ratajski, SCU senior, computer engineering major, video gamer
Chad Raphael, professor of communication, moderator
Introduced by S. Leigh Star, senior scholar, Center for Science, Technology, and Society