Carissa Véliz Keynote Speaker
- Expert in technology and ethics
- Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford.
- Best-selling author of the highly-acclaimed 'Privacy Is Power' (an Economist book of the year).
Carissa Véliz's Biography
Carissa Véliz is a renowned expert in technology and ethics at the University of Oxford and a best-selling author.
Carissa is the author of the highly-acclaimed Privacy Is Power (an Economist book of the year) and the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics. She has published in media outlets such as Wired, the Guardian, New Statesman, Slate, and El País. Her academic work has been published in The Harvard Business Review, Nature Electronics, Nature Energy, and AI & Society, among other journals.
As a speaker, she is sought after for her expertise on the moral implications of emerging technologies, and her work on the philosophy of artificial intelligence has been particularly influential. Carissa has spoken at many conferences and events, including TEDx, providing insightful commentary and presentations on ethics in AI and privacy. She enjoys engaging with philosophy and ethics as she is dedicated to helping people understand these complex topics in a way that is both informative and accessible.
In the field of technology, Carissa’s research focuses on digital ethics. Her areas include privacy and issues related to artificial intelligence and other moral and political philosophy topics that she is interested in exploring more generally for the philosophical insights they may offer towards understanding today’s society. She has expertise in AI privacy concerns and moral theory, especially around how data collection affects people’s lives, and explores practical implications for policy making, particularly toward social justice and public policy.
Carissa is a member of ‘Women 4 Ethics of AI’ for UNESCO. Their objective is to strengthen the ability of UNESCO’s member states to promote trustworthy AI systems based on their recommendations.
As an adviser, Carissa collaborates with public and private organisations as she is passionate about helping people understand the ethical implications of new technologies. She believes that by understanding these implications, we can make better decisions about how to use technology, individually and collectively.
She has been a witness to the UK House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee and to the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill. In the US, she has advised Congress on matters of privacy. In Spain, she was a member of the Group of Experts who advised on the drafting of Digital Rights Charter, and a member of the High-Level Advisory Panel on Technology and Global Order who wrote the Digital Strategy for Spain at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Carissa is an Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford. In addition to being a professor, she is a Tutorial Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Hertford College. She is the recipient of the prestigious Herbert A. Simon Award for Outstanding Research in Computing and Philosophy.
Carissa Véliz's Speaking Topics
The promise and perils of generative AI
What is special about generative AI? Has generative AI been trained on data that was acquired legitimately? What effect will it have in business and democracy?
Why privacy is power:
What is the relationship between data, privacy, and power? What does it mean for businesses, governments, and citizens? How can we harness data’s potential while protecting people’s rights and avoiding the pitfalls of liability?
AI Ethics:
What is ethics and how does it differ from the law? Why is AI ethics important and how can we implement it in practice? What is bias and how can we avoid it? Who is responsible for AI?
AI and risk management:
How does AI impact risk management? What kinds of risks can AI help us avoid? What kinds of risks is AI exposing us to and how can we minimize those risks?
What can AI ethics learn from medical ethics?
AI ethics is an emerging discipline, with few years of experience. In order to make progress, it would do well to look at another branch of practical ethics with a much longer history: medical ethics. Just like AI ethics, medical ethics was developed out of the rubble of scandals, and out of the need to govern new technologies that faced us with new dilemmas. Ethical codes, ethics committees, and respect for autonomy have been key to the development of medical ethics – elements that AI ethics would be advised to emulate.
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