Reflections on Ethics, Technology and the Law During the COVID Pandemic

This interactive workshop will provide an opportunity to grapple with the ethical, technological, legal and racial justice questions that are arising, and continue to arise, in light of the COVID pandemic and after the recent police killings in the US. Led by CLIC Artist-in-Residence Sarah Newman, with special guest Mutale Nkonde, this workshop will provide an opportunity to reflect on some of the most pressing questions we face both individually and as a society. The workshop is focused on using creative, collaborative art as a way to wrestle with such questions.

The Value Alignment Problem, recently popularized by AI, is the challenge of assuring that the goals either embedded in systems or secondary goals that they subsequently form are aligned with the values of the society they serve. Such questions of value alignment map onto the further questions with which we now must contend: questions about public safety and personal liberty, privacy and surveillance, systemic biases, and public health during a pandemic.

Through a series of activities and discussions, participants will contribute questions that will later be assembled into a “Moral Labyrinth”, providing an opportunity for further reflection and meditation on timely (and timeless) questions. The workshop-generated labyrinth will be exhibited online and each participant will also receive a special copy of the labyrinth after the conclusion of the workshop.