The Responsible AI Workshop Series

‍
Commentator: Esteban Moro Egido

Director | Social Urban Networks Lab, Network Science Institute
Professor | Department of Physics, Northeastern University
Program Director | Network Science PHD Program

Over the last decade, online platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and X have dramatically increased their reliance on algorithmically curated feeds. Each user is now exposed to a highly personalized selection and ordering of content, often coming from creators and sources that they did not actively choose to view.  Complex, interacting AI-based systems make these selection decisions in ways that optimize that platforms’ goals—such as maximizing user engagement or time spent on platform—but do not necessarily align with users’ autonomy and welfare. At the same time, regulators are poorly equipped to study these platforms, and the companies that operate them are often dis-incentivized from investigating the societal implications of their products due to potential legal liability.

As a result, to fully understand how these platforms are impacting end users, communities, and society as a whole, it is necessary to have independent, third party audits. In this talk, I provide an overview of my work in this space, showing how I have developed and deployed methods that grant us insights into the platforms’ inner workings.  I discuss how we can begin to understand the societal implications of online content recommendation algorithms and how we use this knowledge to hold the platforms accountable. I will focus on potentially discriminatory and anti-democratic consequences of ad delivery optimization at Facebook/Meta, and explain how the lessons we learned can be applied in the context of other online platforms.

This workshop is brought to you by the Responsible AI Practice as part of the RAI Workshop Series.

The RAIP Workshop Series is held in person at 177 Huntington Ave, Boston and is designed as an interactive gathering with a small but diverse audience. Previous workshops have brought together students, faculty, researchers, AI entrepreneurs, and NGO representatives from both technical and philosophical backgrounds. The goal is to spark dialogue and surface a wide range of perspectives on the responsible AI challenges under discussion. Sessions take place on Thursdays at 3:00 PM and typically include a designated commentator who contributes reflections either intermittently or toward the end of the talk.

Want to hear about future Responsible AI events?

Sign up here to get updates on upcoming Responsible AI workshops and events.