Artificial Intelligence
Promoting Responsible AI
STPP's work in AI cuts across all three of our main areas of work: education, research, and community partnerships. Our students learn how to critically evaluate the use of AI for considerations such as equity, community impact, and environmental impact. Our research illuminates the social, political, and justice implications of cutting edge AI tools. In our partnerships, we provide non-profits, government agencies, and advocacy organizations with the resources they need to make decisions about AI and advocate for their communities.
I think the most important thing to remember is that AI is us. AI is our history; AI is based on data. To get that enormous amount of data, it has to mine our histories. Our history is marked by systemic discrimination and bias. Because it is marked by that, our AI is going to be as well… Technologies that are structurally biased, that are not adequately tested in people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people (that) is the place of most concern…if we want to minimize the harm to these communities, what kind of regulatory infrastructure do we need?
Shobita Parthasarathy
Artificial Intelligence Handbook for Local Government
AI-Related Publications
- Understanding the Future of Artificial Intelligence Governance: Comparing the EU AI Act and U.S. Executive Order on Safe AI
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hiring Technology and Disability Discrimination (Community resource for disabled community)
- Artificial Intelligence Hiring Technology and Disability Discrimination (for policy makers)
- Case Over the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency’s Faulty Automated System Finally Settled
- Development of and Concerns Regarding Predictive Policing Practices
- Tenant Screening Algorithms: Policy Intervention
- The Risks of Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools: Policy Considerations for Michigan
- Automated License Plate Readers: Legal and Policy Evaluation
- Acoustic Gunshot Detection Systems: Community & Policy Considerations
- What’s in the Chatterbox? Large Language Models, Why They Matter, and What We Should Do About Them
- Cameras in the Classroom: Facial Recognition Technology in Schools
AI-Related News
Faculty Director Shobita Parthasarathy, was part of an interdisciplinary group of experts convened by the National Academy of Sciences in May 2024 to explore rising challenges posed by the use of AI in research and to chart a road map for the scientific community. The group’s research papers were recently published in Issues in Science and Technology as a series called “Strategies to Govern AI Effectively.” With Jared Katzman, a doctoral student at the School of Information and STPP graduate certificate student, Parthasarathy wrote a paper on how to prevent and address inequities built into AI. Read more here.
Professor Yousif Hassan served as this year's faculty advisor for the 51 students engaged on pressing AI-related policy questions during this spring’s Ford+Munk case competition. Held annually, the Ford+Munk conference has students from the Ford School and the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy analyze, evaluate, and present key findings related to a current policy issue impacting the U.S. and Canada. This year’s theme was Ethics, AI, and the Future of Work.
ChatGPT scrutiny brings STPP Artificial Intelligence study new relevance. (February 2023)
Yousif Hassan
AI-related Courses
Undergraduate Courses
PubPol 240 - Introduction to Technology Policy
PubPol 474.002 - Values & Ethics: Science, Technology, and the Public Good
PubPol 475.008 - Topics: Race, Technology, and Public Policy
SI 311.149 - Privacy and Surveillance in a Digital Era
Graduate Courses
Law 816 - AI Regulations: US, EU, and Asian Perspectives
Law 897 - Artificial Intelligence and the Law
PubPol 650 - Introduction to Science and Technology Policy Analysis
PubPol 710.001 - Defending Against Deepfakes and Disinformation
PubPol 750.008 - Topics: Race, Technology, and Public Policy
SI 540 - Privacy in Information Technology
You have already been interacting with AI if you have ever used spell check, autocomplete, or gotten a recommendation from Netflix. However, today, when people talk about AI tools, they often refer to general-purpose generative AI programs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot…
AI tools are known to confidently give false facts on topics without providing sources. This is sometimes called a “hallucination” but is more accurately called “being wrong.”
