Moral Imagination
in Affective Computing
Sunday Sept 10, 2023 | 9am—5pm
MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
Silverman Skyline Room
For questions, contact acii.moral.imagination@gmail.com
Moral Imagination
in Affective Computing
Sunday Sept 10, 2023 | 9am—5pm
MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
Silverman Skyline Room
For questions, contact acii.moral.imagination@gmail.com
There's much discussion in literature and press about the ethics of affective computing and the responsibilities of both researchers and companies involved in its development. Indeed, ethics has been a focus since the formation of the field. And yet, as affective technologies are deployed increasingly across a breadth of contexts that impact societies, there's also more vocal criticism and scrutiny of the social effects that affective tech do or could create.
Like much in the technology field, it's often the values and perspectives of technologists and their collaborators that shape what affective capabilities are built, and how they are deployed. While most affective technologists want to see their work drive socially beneficial impacts, the technologies are being deployed in many complex social contexts. If our assumptions and intuitions go unchallenged, they can and do lead to unintended adverse effects.
These unintended effects are potentially foreseeable through deliberate ethical reflection seated in a broader outlook. Realizing socially beneficial affective technologies requires going beyond dominant norms of computer science and engineering culture to engage meaningfully and productively with ethics and social responsibility.
No paper submission is required. To attend, register for ACII2023 and fill out this form.
We're inviting you to participate in an interactive workshop at the annual conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII) to engage pragmatically and constructively with this often unexamined and critical part of affective computing research. We're breaking from the mold of typical paper and poster sessions, and will instead undertake a guided group discussion on the ethics of affective computing.
This is a full day workshop to be held on September 10, 2023 at ACII2023 at the MIT Media Lab, and will include multiple breaks.
Community perspectives about the ethics of affective computing and responsibilities of practitioners,
Areas of interest for community followup, such as topics that could particularly use interdisciplinary consultation or topics where a research consensus would be necessary to inform industry practitioners and public debate about affective computing, and
A summary of workshop discussion about how conversations like those during the workshop can further affective computing practitioners’ understanding of ethics and how to action it in their work.
Increased awareness of the ethical dimensions of their work,
Upleveled ability to articulate ethical challenges, their points-of-view, and design decisions to others,
Deeper understanding of how information-seeking can provide critical insight into ethical deliberation, and
Useful concepts from the fields of ethics, philosophy of technology, and responsible innovation that have direct application for affective technology.
Amanda McCroskery, Google Research
Daniel McDuff, Google Research
Brendan Jou, Google Research
Alice Moloney, Google Research
Geoff Keeling, Google Research
Ben Zevenbergen, Google
Shri Narayanan, USC
Hatice Gunes, Cambridge University
Jesse Hoey, University of Waterloo
Steven Kelts, Princeton University
Luke Stark, University of Western Ontario
Fill out this form. This form is not a prerequisite to attend, but will greatly help the organizers shape the interactive discussion for the workshop.
Feel free to reach out to us at acii.moral.imagination@gmail.com.