Summer 2018

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

My current research focuses on the ethical implications of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. I am motivated to study AI because it is a field that intersects with the humanities. Our intelligence, reasoning, and ability to build complex societies are a few aspects the field of AI seeks to replicate and improve upon. This technology will soon power personal assistants, doctors, tutors, and even self-driving cars. The most ethical steps to get there should be top priority. As such, my most recent work explores autonomous vehicles (AV) and their possible benefits or drawbacks to society.

Over the summer of 2018, I worked with Dr. David Danks at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Our project analyzed autonomous vehicles to explore whether or not we can reap all the proposed benefits for society. Through this project, I learned what research is like and how to ask the right questions. For more details about the research and what I learned, read through my blog that summarizes all seven weeks at CMU.

Working in Hunt Library

This project opened the door to broadly share this research as well. After returning to Monterey I was selected to give an oral presentation at the 5th Annual CSUMB Summer Research Symposium. The title chosen was “Balancing the Benefits of Autonomous Vehicles.” Shortly after, Santa Cruz Tech Beat, “the go-to source for all things tech in the Monterey Bay Region,” ran a featured Q&A article on my experience at CMU. More recently, Dr. Danks and I were accepted to orally present a co-authored paper titled “Balancing the Benefits of Autonomous Vehicles” at the 2019 Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society conference in Honolulu Hawaii.

Moving into the next summer of research will build off this work with Danks. I plan to explore multiple stake holder views of AVs through government and policy, industry, engineering, computer science, and ethics. This exploration will string create a 2019 “current conversation” of self-driving vehicles from divergent fields. I hope this will promote connection, trust, and well-being in the new robotics age.

Summer 2019

California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB).