Matt Lease (Associate Professor, School of Information) will lead the first research presentation from the Future of Work Research Focus Area. Social media platforms must detect and block a variety of unacceptable user-generated content, such such as adult or violent images. This detection task is difficult to automate due to high accuracy requirements, costs of errors, and nuanced rules for what is and is not acceptable. Consequently, platforms rely on a vast and largely invisible workforce of human moderators to filter such content. However, mounting evidence suggests that exposure to disturbing content can cause lasting psychological and emotional damage to some moderators. To mitigate such harm, we investigate a set of blur-based moderation interfaces for reducing exposure to disturbing content whilst preserving moderator ability to quickly and accurately flag it. We find that interactive blurring designs can reduce emotional impact without sacrificing moderation accuracy and speed. See our online demo at: http://ir.ischool.utexas.edu/CM/demo/.   Register now!

Paul Sabin will discuss lessons learned from the history of energy and climate, including how our historical understanding has changed in the past decade. How fast can we transform our energy system, and what factors will determine how this change unfolds? What historical insights might inform strategies pursued by the new presidential administration, or by state and local governments? Important developments include the falling cost of solar and wind energy, the decline of coal, and bitter political and cultural conflicts over environmental regulation, land use, and transportation. The changing context created by climate-influenced fire and flooding also will be considered. Sabin will consider the competing grounds for optimism and despair in thinking about our energy and climate future. Learn more and register.  This talk is part of the Institute for Historical Studies' theme in 2020-2021 on "Climate in Context: Historical Precedents and the Unprecedented."

It is very easy to fall into the trap of putting sensors around town to collect data, without developing a data strategy. It is important to think through what data is being collected, how it will be stored, and what problems it will help us solve.  “Smart solutions” should be offered to everyone, so that new technology does not exacerbate societal inequality. Presenters Stephen Elkins (Texas Client Director, Microsoft) and Raamel Mitchell (Citizenship and Market Development Director for the Central United States, Microsoft) will discuss specific use cases where government can use AI to fill resource gaps.   Part of the Smart Cities Consortium.

This panel is hosted by Good Systems' Critical Surveillance Inquiry Research Focus Area. We work with scholars, organizations and communities to curate conversations, exhibitions and research that examine the social and ethical implications of surveillance technologies, both AI-enabled and not. With a focus on algorithmic harm and tech equity, we continually question “what’s good?” in order to better understand the development and impact of artificial intelligence. Panelists include Iván Chaar-Lopez (Assistant Professor, American Studies), Sam Lavigne (Assistant Professor, School of Design), Erin McElroy (Postdoctoral Researcher, New York University, AI Now Institute), and Critical Surveillance Inquiry Research Director Simone Browne (Associate Professor, African and African Diaspora Studies). Moderated by Good Systems Executive Team member Tanya Clement (Associate Professor, English). Register now! 

Bring your lunch and your ideas for research projects around these four areas: FUTURE OF WORK: structural issues like race, gender and class; dignity and self-understanding, identity will be considered in all areas. • Future of Work technologies that should be provided to residents: broadband and other technologies • Future of Work workplace issues: employer-provided devices, privacy and other ethical workplace issues • Future of Work and the gig economy: placeless work, crowd work, invisible work, other • Future of Work h

Please join Planet Texas 2050 for a special event focusing on Climate Fiction, otherwise known as “Cli-Fi,” with public readings by student authors from across the 40 Acres.

The collaborative autonomous driving approach depends on the collaboration between intelligent roads and intelligent vehicles. This approach is not only safer but also more economical compared to the traditional on-vehicle-only autonomous driving approach. In this talk, we introduce our real-world deployment experiences of collaborative autonomous driving, and delve into the details of why it is safer and more efficient.  Part of the Smart Cities Consortium.