An Interactive Workshop on Value Sensitive Algorithm Design

Sarah Thornton

Stevenson 1300
12:00 PM

The choices we make in our algorithms reverberate across society in many dimensions, changing our expectations of mobility, safety, employment and other aspects of life we value. These major societal changes will, in turn, be the result of a number of small engineering decisions that, when aggregated, determine the system behavior. In order for our technology to evolve in ways we desire, we must bridge the gap between individual engineering decisions and the societal impacts they create. This workshop discusses some of the challenges faced by engineers and proposes a value-centered approach, engaging stakeholders early in the process, identifying values and tensions that should be resolved.