McCormick visiting Prof. Barry O’Sullivan discussed the nuances and importance of artificial intelligence policy at a Monday afternoon colloquium in Chambers Hall.
The event, “AI Policymaking: A Tale of Two Domains,” was part of the Fay Lomax Cook Monday Colloquia series hosted by the Institute for Policy Research where NU researchers share timely policy-related research. O’Sullivan explored how we can ethically make policies about AI use, especially from the lens of the European Union.
“I did this from two perspectives, one from the perspective of a civilian domain case study, and the second was a military domain case study,” O’Sullivan said. “I wanted to contrast and talk about the differing, but also the common, issues that arise in both of these spaces.”
While O’Sullivan is visiting NU to teach computer science, he is a professor at University College Cork in Ireland.
O’Sullivan said McCormick Prof. V.S. Subrahmanian invited him to present this segment partially to introduce himself to the IPR.
“My own personal objectives were to, number one, introduce myself to the IPR community, and also to talk about the work I’ve been doing on AI policy making — primarily from a non-U.S. background,” O’Sullivan said. “I hope it was interesting for people to hear how the European Union approaches these topics.”
Subrahmanian said O’Sullivan worked with a multinational team consisting of Americans, Chinese military experts and experts in AI and military strategy from around the world.
Subrahmanian, who said his and O’Sullivan’s academic work has a lot of overlap, emphasized the importance of AI policymaking.
“The governance of AI is absolutely critical,” Subrahmanian said. “It has great capacity for delivering benefits to humanity.”
O’Sullivan echoed this sentiment, saying that the importance of his talk aligns especially with the current context about AI — it is “super hyped” and attached with many unrealistic expectations, he said.
“There’s also a lot of fear that’s been created around AI,” O’Sullivan said. “Is AI going to take our jobs? Is there an existential threat to humanity? All of these kinds of things. At the end of the day, AI is a technology. Its impact is going to be significant in the long term, but not in the really dramatic sense.”
Program Assistant Nicholas Benson, who planned the event, said the IPR is interdepartmental and works with faculty to host such events.
“All of our faculty from those different departments, they come in and get to learn about these fields that are related and important when they’re related,” Benson said.
O’Sullivan said it felt like an honor to present to the IPR.
“I’m extremely pleased,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s a fantastic, inclusive and supportive environment. And that’s always wonderful to be part of.”
O’Sullivan and Subrahmanian are speaking at Thursday’s AI & Geopolitics Symposium at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, an all-day event at 720 University Pl.
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