Current Projects

Current Projects:

AI Ethics discourse in the public sector: This project is developing a picture of artificial intelligence use and discourse in the public sector to guide theory development and areas for technical assistance. We are analyzing use cases of artificial intelligence (AI) globally and across levels of government and a variety of public sectors (from policing and transportation to social services and public health) to examine the discourse around AI ethics in the public sector. Our analysis is informed by Epistemic Frame Theory, and Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) is our analytical approach. We are trying to answer questions such as: What AI ethics concerns are most often discussed in the use cases across sectors, countries, applications, and level of government? What AI ethics are neglected? What are the key differences in the discourse of AI ethics across sectors, countries, applications, and level of government? What are the linkages among AI ethics concepts, and where are linkages missing?

Public Interest Technology in emergency management: With DC area emergency managers, we are co-designing a socio-technical system that facilitates emergency managerial competence and autonomy. Our research takes an integrative approach to the use of technology in emergency and crisis managerial work in cognitive, organizational, and societal domains. We are examining the cognitive correlates of crisis-management-type decision-making among a sample of emergency management professionals in high-risk scenarios as well as scenarios related to the use of artificial intelligence. The study will help us better understand how cognitive, dispositional and motivational aspects might be linked to decision outcomes in the context of AI.