Last week I participated on a panel about the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR), a proposed computing and data resource for academic AI researchers. The NAIRR’s goal is to subsidize the spiraling costs of many types of AI research that have put them out of reach of most academic groups. My comments on the panel […]
CITP Case Study on Regulating Facial Recognition Technology in Canada
April 7, 2022 by
Canada, like many jurisdictions in the United States, is grappling with the growing usage of facial recognition technology in the private and public sectors. This technology is being deployed at a rapid pace in airports, retail stores, social media platforms, and by law enforcement – with little oversight from the government. To help address this […]
Recommendations for introducing greater safeguards and transparency into CS conference funding
March 23, 2022 by
In Part 1 of this piece, I provided evidence of the extent to which some of the world’s top computer science conferences are financially reliant upon some of the world’s most powerful technology companies. In this second part, I lay out a set of recommendations for ways to help ensure that these entanglements of industry […]
Holding Purveyors of “Dark Patterns” for Online Travel Bookings Accountable
March 21, 2022 by
Last week, my former colleagues at the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG), scored a $2.6 million settlement with Fareportal – a large online travel agency that used deceptive practices, known as “dark patterns,” to manipulate consumers to book online travel. The investigation exposes how Fareportal, which operates under several brands, including CheapOair and OneTravel […]
The tech industry controls CS conference funding. What are the dangers?
March 11, 2022 by
Research about the influence of computing technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), on society relies heavily upon the financial support of the very companies that produce those technologies. Corporations like Google, Microsoft, and IBM spend millions of dollars each year to sponsor labs, professorships, PhD programs, and conferences in fields like computer science (CS) and […]
