News

Medieval theology has an old take on a new problem − AI responsibility

By David Danks, Professor of Data Science, Philosophy, & Policy, University of California, San Diego and Mike Kirby, Professor of Computing, University of Utah | The Conversation | September 10, 2024

Ethicists wrestling with AI’s responsibility for its actions, vis-a-vis its creators’ responsibility, could learn a few things from theology.

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UC San Diego Sociologist Named Hastings Center Fellow

By Triveni Sheshadri | UC San Diego Today | February 15, 2024

John Evans, Co-Director of the Institue for Practical Ethics, professor of sociology, Tata Chancellor’s Chair in Social Sciences and associate dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of California San Diego, has been elected a fellow of the Hastings Center, which is the honorific society for the field of bioethics.  The Hastings Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute focused on ethical issues in health, science and technology.

The newest fellows, a Hastings Center announcement said, focus on a broad range of topics with ethical implications, including digital technologies, public health, disparities at the end of life, disability rights, institutional racism, climate change, and pain and addiction.

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History and Philosophy of Science Essay Prize Winner Announced by IUHPST

By Justin Weinberg | Daily Nous

Ahmad Elabbar, Ph.D. student at Cambridge University and Institute for Practical Ethics Visiting Graduate Student, is the winner of the 2023 History and Philosophy of Science Essay Prize from the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IUHPST).

The biennial prize “seeks to encourage fresh methodological thinking on the history and philosophy of science and related areas.”

Elabbar won the prize for his essay "The curatorial view of assessment and the ethics of scientific advice: Beyond decisional autonomy towards distributive epistemic justice."

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Graduate Students Recognized as Equity and Diversity Champions

By Phoebe Skok | UC San Diego Today

Five UC San Diego graduate students will soon join the ranks of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, a distinguished organization that applauds scholars whose commitment to diversity, leadership and academic excellence pushes the boundaries of doctoral education.

As remarkable student leaders in their fields, Bouchet Scholars truly embody the values of Edward Alexander Bouchet, the first self-identified Black American to earn a doctorate degree in the United States and the sixth person ever to earn a doctorate in physics in the Western Hemisphere.

This year’s scholars are deeply committed to creating change and have led a wide array of teaching, outreach, service and advocacy efforts aimed at broadening participation in their fields, both on campus and beyond. For some scholars, this also includes using their research topic as an arena to uncover and address inequities.

The members of this year’s cohort are Jeramy Dedrick, Alexis Meza, Maya Rowell, Alicia M. Wright and a past Ph.D. fellow of the institute, Jada Wiggleton-Little.

Jada Wiggleton-Little, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at UC San Diego, investigates how pain communication influences racial and gender disparities in pain management. She explained that chronic pain disproportionately affects marginalized communities; often, the disparities in chronic pain management and treatment can be traced to systemic biases and discrimination.

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