Dublin, 15 May 2023: ADAPT Academics, Professor Dave Lewis (Trinity College Dublin), Professor Aphra Kerr (Maynooth University) and Dr Harshvardhan Pandit (Dublin City University), will be taking part in three separate panel discussions related to ethical AI and privacy at the upcoming Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference (CPDP) taking place in May of this year. CPDP is a world-leading multidisciplinary conference offering the cutting edge in legal, regulatory, academic and technological development in privacy and data protection. This year, CPDP will take place in Les Halles, Area 42 and Maison des Arts, Brussels, Belgium from the 24th – 26th May 2023.
Prof. Lewis will moderate the panel ‘Technical Standards and the AI Act: Legitimate and Sufficient?’ which will focus on the core elements required for the implementation of the EU AI Act involving harmonised technical standards related to risk, quality, data management, testing and verification. Speakers include David Filip [ISO/IEC JTC1 SC42 Trustworthy AI workgroup Convener, Huawei (CZ)], Salvatore Scalzo [DG CNECT, European Commission (BE)] and Natalia Giorgi, [European Trade Union Confederation (BE)].
Some standards suitable for certifying AI systems are under-development internationally by expert committees such as ISO/EC JTC1 SC42 on AI, while European Standard bodies including CEN/CENELEC JTC21 on AI are addressing how such standards can serve as harmonised standards for the AI Act. This panel will discuss concerns related to the legitimacy of such standards development in bodies dominated by experts from large multinationals and whether the level of societal stakeholder involvement in this technical rule making is sufficient to protect fundamental rights. The panel will also discuss how well can standardised technical rules can be effective across different high risk AI applications and across different member states’ enforcement of the AI Act.
Prof. Kerr’s panel, titled ‘Guardians of Ethical AI‘ will address how digital ethicists can aid organisations in developing socially responsible innovative and meaningful AI and big data practices. As Europe introduces new legislation governing the digital world (e.g. GDPR and the AI Act) it has become more important than ever to ensure the development of the necessary skills in order to understand morally acceptable actions and decisions in this area. This panel will discuss the importance of developing a specific profession of digital ethicists who are capable of implementing good governance and conduct for AI and data practices.
Currently, organisations are creating positions for data ethics and responsible AI but formal education for digital ethicists is still needed. Combining perspectives from industry, public management and academia, and representatives from Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland, this panel addresses which skills a digital ethicist would need in order to develop effective agency within organisations to aid in the development of socially responsible AI.
Dr Pandit (Dublin City University) will also be moderating a workshop at the conference. The workshop, titled “Advanced Data Protection Control (ADPC): A Fundamental Transformation In Privacy Practices”, will introduce ADPC, an automated mechanism for the communication of users’ privacy decisions, and reflect on the future of protection and privacy which can drive the online world towards a fundamental data protection transformation. The workshop will also assess the prospects for browser based controls in the context of the ongoing ePrivacy negotiations, the European Commission’s Cookie ‘Pledge’ initiative, AND developments in California under the CCPA/CPRA.
Image: Prof Aphra Kerr (middle) speaks on the panel ‘Guardians of Ethical AI‘.
Image: Prof. Dave Lewis (left) moderates the panel ‘Technical Standards and the AI Act: Legitimate and Sufficient?’.
