AI for Social Impact Seminar Series - Sera Linardi

Date: 

Monday, December 14, 2020, 2:00pm

Join us from August 24 through December 14 at the AI for Social Impact Seminar Series. This seminar series will explore how artificial intelligence can contribute to solving social problems.

Artificial intelligence is poised to play an increasingly large role in societies across the world. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in ensuring that AI is used in a responsible and beneficial manner. A range of perspectives and contributions are needed, spanning the full spectrum from fundamental research to sustained deployments.
 
This seminar series will explore how artificial intelligence can contribute to solving social problems. For example, what role can AI play in promoting health, access to opportunity, and sustainable development? How can AI initiatives be deployed in an ethical, inclusive, and accountable manner?
 
Recording of the talk: https://youtu.be/6SeHTAc40_g

 

Title: Lessons from Imperfect Attempts to Serve (from Academia)

 

Abstract: The Center for Analytical Approaches to Social Innovation (CAASI) was founded in the Fall of 2019 to connect the tools of quantitative social science and computing to the practical needs of local organizations that serve vulnerable populations. While some of CAASI's projects have fit neatly into existing research categories, this is not the case for our most recent initiatives that arose in response to George Floyd's death this May. This talk will contrast these different approaches to community engagement through two specific examples: a field experiment with a provider of reintegration services to the formerly incarcerated and a volunteer-driven effort to build a tool to understand the process of holding the police accountable. 

 

Sera Linardi  (University of Pittsburgh)

 

Sera LinardiSera Linardi is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) at the University of Pittsburgh, where she founded and directs the Center for Analytical Approaches to Social Innovation (CAASI). She received her Ph.D. in Social Science at the California Institute of Technology after working as a computer scientist at Adobe Systems. She bridges academic research and practical challenges in public/social services provision, specifically around prosocial behavior, information aggregation, and behavior economics of the poor. Her research has been published in economics, management, and political science journals (Journal of Public Economics, Management Science, Games and Economic Behavior, British Journal of Political Science) and won the 2016 Midwest Political Science Association Best Paper in Comparative Politics Award. Her work is currently supported by the NSF and the Heinz Endowment.