Shobita Parthasarathy

Leadership

Shobita Parthasarathy

Professor of Public Policy; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy program; Professor of Women's and Gender Studies (by courtesy)

Shobita Parthasarathy is Professor of Public Policy and Women's and Gender Studies, and co-founder and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, at University of Michigan. She studies the political economy of innovation and…

In the Media

Parthasarathy: AI energizes people to consider direction of science and technology

Dec 4, 2024 Nature

"Shobita Parthasarathy teaches graduate students about science policy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. New technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are 'really energizing people' to consider the directions of science and...

Parthasarathy: AI energizes people to consider direction of science and technology

In the Media

Michigan Daily covers STPP event with New York Times Tech Reporter

Oct 17, 2024 Read the Daily's story

The Michigan Daily recently covered STPP's event at the Ford School in a feature article: NYT reporter Kashmir Hill discusses the privacy implications of facial recognition...

News

Who owns your face? NYT reporter Kashmir Hill discusses privacy in the era of facial recognition

Oct 10, 2024

How much control should we have over our likeness? Our anonymity?Nearly 200 attendees confronted these questions at a Ford School event with New York Times technology reporter Kashmir Hill, in conversation with Science, Technology, and Public...

News

STPP brings interdisciplinary, historical perspectives to public interest technology issues

Sep 12, 2024

Many of the research projects housed at the Science, Technology and Public Policy program (STPP) in the Ford School focus on climate issues for a simple reason, explains Managing Director Molly Kleinman. "None of this technology operates without...

STPP brings interdisciplinary, historical perspectives to public interest technology issues

News

STPP awarded MIDAS grant to advance equitable AI research

Jul 23, 2024

A research project from the Ford School’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program was selected by the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS) as part of its 2024 Propelling Original Data Science grants to accelerate...

STPP awarded MIDAS grant to advance equitable AI research

Publication

Prioritizing equity among the great challenges of AI, says Parthasarathy

May 29, 2024

As generative artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, University of Michigan expert Shobita Parthasarathy says technical revisions to the mechanics may address some harms built into the technology so far.Yet, she argues, “it will always be...

Prioritizing equity among the great challenges of AI, says Parthasarathy

State & Hill

Faculty Findings, spring 2024

Apr 24, 2024

Innovation that benefits societyInclusive innovation—the idea of introducing technologies designed for and by the poor to boost economic growth in impoverished communities—often misses the real problems facing these communities and champions...

News

Stacey Abrams, other policymakers and leading scholars to join Ford School symposium

Mar 12, 2024

The Ford School of Public Policy is happy to announce the Dean’s Symposium, which will take place April 11 and 12 at Weill Hall, with the theme, “Policy Innovation for Our Times.” The two days will feature keynote appearances by voting rights...

Stacey Abrams, other policymakers and leading scholars to join Ford School symposium

Publication

A tale of two perspectives on innovation and global equity

Feb 13, 2024

Inclusive innovation—the idea of introducing technologies designed for and by the poor to boost economic growth in impoverished communities—often misses the real problems facing these communities and champions solutions that benefit entrepreneurs at...

A tale of two perspectives on innovation and global equity

News

Parthasarathy named to prestigious French council

Dec 8, 2023

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy has been named to the scientific council for ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. ANSES is a public administrative body reporting to the Ministries of Health,...

Parthasarathy named to prestigious French council

News

STPP influence in New York report about facial recognition technology in schools

Oct 30, 2023

The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) has outlined the ethical issues with the state’s use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in schools. The report titled “Use of Biometric Identifying Technology in Schools” found...

STPP influence in New York report about facial recognition technology in schools

In the Media

"Appropriative" patents a long-term problem - Parthasarathy

Sep 1, 2023 NPR Planet Money

The way that a lot of pharmaceutical companies got their knowledge was often from going to other countries and finding out about Indigenous knowledge and then coming back and testing that. So there's a famous case of Eli Lilly patenting a treatment...

"Appropriative" patents a long-term problem - Parthasarathy

News

STPP to explore best practice in community engagement

Aug 1, 2023

As technologists and scientists increasingly engage with communities in order to enhance the societal benefits of their work, and demonstrate its public value, it is important to ensure that such engagements benefit the people they claim to serve....

STPP to explore best practice in community engagement

Publication

Parthasarathy calls for reimagining the innovation process

Jul 19, 2023

The basic model of technological innovation in the U.S. has relied upon academic research and private sector commercialization. While the standard approach has stimulated macroeconomic growth, produced many valuable products, and created jobs,...

In the Media

Parthasarathy: ChatGPT reinforces human biases

Jun 18, 2023 WDET

Shobita Parthasarathy says ChatGPT simply reiterates language that humans have already created, and that often the ideas and biases that humans exhibit are reinforced by the tool. “[ChatGPT] is not magic. It’s also not an asteroid. It is us. It is...

Parthasarathy: ChatGPT reinforces human biases

News

U-M experts: We need to emphasize AI’s societal impacts over technological advancements

May 12, 2023

Artificial intelligence—AI for short—is all over the news lately. And for good or ill, it has implications for us all. Two University of Michigan professors—Nigel Melville from the Ross School of Business and Shobita Parthasarathy from the Ford...

U-M experts: We need to emphasize AI’s societal impacts over technological advancements

News

STPP receives grant to study STEM-in-Society training

Apr 21, 2023

As science becomes more central to our daily lives—whether for predicting the impacts of climate change, transforming our physical and cognitive capabilities, or developing life-saving pharmaceuticals—socially responsible research and innovation are...

STPP receives grant to study STEM-in-Society training

News

STPP gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates

Mar 22, 2023

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program has received a $250,000 gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates across campus. The gift comes from Phil (LSA ’87) and Julie (LSA ’88) Hollyer, parents of Keegan (Ford BA...

STPP gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates

In the Media

AI will 'turbocharge' inequalities in health care - Parthasarathy

Mar 16, 2023 Bridge Michigan

Shobita Parthasarathy, Bridge Michigan: "Health care systems don't even know what data they're missing. That (AI) gets integrated into medical care as a mechanism for achieving efficiency. But they do that without realizing that it's going to...

The politics of inclusive innovation in international development: Menstrual hygiene management and sanitary pads in India

News

ChatGPT: Ford School expert can discuss AI chatbots, their reach, impact, concerns, potential

Mar 3, 2023

As ChatGPT hits three months in operation, its reach and uses continue to widen along with a range of efforts and research to grasp and anticipate the upside and downside of using artificial intelligence to do what humans would normally do. Ford...

In the Media

Parthasarathy on AI technology perils

Feb 28, 2023 Business Insider

Business Insider: Run-ins with users show some of the potentially troubling outcomes to expect when companies experiment with the public on new AI technologies, said Shobita Parthasarathy, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan, who...

News

STPP receives Carbon Neutrality Acceleration grant, examining nuclear power

Feb 16, 2023

The Graham Sustainability Institute’s Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program (CNAP) announced $1,160,000 in funding for six new faculty research projects. CNAP is a multi-year, multimillion-dollar program created in 2020 with a $5 million gift from...

STPP receives Carbon Neutrality Acceleration grant, examining nuclear power

News

ChatGPT scrutiny brings STPP Artificial Intelligence study new relevance

Feb 9, 2023

ChatGPT, Microsoft’s artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithm, has been subject to intense scrutiny since its launch in November, becoming instantly popular because it was made free and easily accessible. Proponents are amazed at its ability to...

In the Media

Parthasarathy weighs in on implications of ChatGPT

Feb 6, 2023 Nature

Shobita Parthasarathy, Nature: "Besides directly producing toxic content, there are concerns that AI chatbots will embed historical biases or ideas about the world from their training data, such as the superiority of particular cultures, says...

News

Ford School faculty launch open online courses

Dec 19, 2022

Three Ford School faculty have developed exciting new online courses to equip learners and professionals around the globe with interdisciplinary skills that help them engage in and inform complex public policy decision-making processes. Elisabeth...

Ford School faculty launch open online courses

News

U-M online course centers equity and justice in technology policy

Nov 30, 2022

A new massive open online course available on Michigan Online will help STEM and policy professionals, community organizers, and students understand how injustices can become embedded in technology and associated policies. “Justice and Equity in...

U-M online course centers equity and justice in technology policy

News

Parthasarathy discusses implications of Large Language Models

Nov 7, 2022

Large Language Models (LLMs) are artificial intelligence tools that can read, summarize and translate texts and predict future words in a sentence letting them generate sentences similar to how humans talk and write. Shobita Parthasarathy, professor...

News

Has India's new federal abortion law made it a safer place for women?

Nov 2, 2022

India's top court upheld a woman's right to an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy, regardless of marital status, a widely hailed decision by women's rights activists. The right to abortion has proved contentious globally after the U.S. Supreme...

News

Ford School faculty contribute to Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative

Oct 31, 2022

Three Ford School faculty members have played an integral role in U-M's Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative, providing expertise and guidance to the initiative. The Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative is led by the Office of the Provost and aims to bring 21...

Ford School faculty contribute to Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative