Program Overview Certification Requirements
Program Overview
The Spring 2022 Let’s Talk program, produced by the Walton College Business Integrity Leadership Initiative and sponsored by J.B. Hunt consists of a speaker series and a book and is focused on ethical artificial intelligence (AI).
This program will explore the ethical development, deployment and use of AI. AI can already be found in our search engines, social media algorithms and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, but how can we make sure this technology is deployed effectively and responsibly on a global scale?
The Let’s Talk about Ethical AI book of the semester is: Real World AI: A Practical Guide for Responsible Machine Learning by Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger and Wilson Pang. In Real World AI, Rochwerger and Pang explain a practical AI deployment strategy that has been three times more successful than the tech industry average. They also share personal experiences from people who worked on the global AI systems that help run the world.
Leading modern security expert Peter W. Singer is our first guest speaker of the semester. Singer is a professor of practice at Arizona State University, a strategist and senior fellow at The New America Foundation, and the author of several books including Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution, which visualizes our AI future, and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media.
Our second speaker is Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger, co-author of this semester’s book, Real World AI. Rochwerger serves as the director of product at Blue Shield of California, which provides more than 4.5 million Californians with access to affordable health care. She has over a decade of experience in building technical data-driven products and has held numerous leadership roles for machine learning organizations, including director of product at IBM Watson.
Our third speaker, Jerry Jones, is the chief legal & ethics officer and executive vice president of LiveRamp, a data connectivity company formerly known as Acxiom Corporation. At LiveRamp, Jones is responsible for the legal, privacy, and data ethics teams and leads strategic initiatives. Jones is also a special advisor to Club de Madrid, a forum of former democratic heads of state, focused on, among other things, the responsible use of AI on the world stage. Jones also sits on the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative’s external advisory board.
Student Career Readiness Badge Opportunity:
Undergraduate students can achieve the Let’s Talk about Ethical AI badge by completing the following activities:
- Attend (or watch the recording of) Peter W. Singer’s speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways
- Attend (or watch the recording of) Jerry Jones’ speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways
- Attend (or watch the recording of) Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger’s speaker presentation on her book, Real World AI and write a reflection on main takeaways
- Optional - Read the book of the semester Real World AI by Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger and Wilson Pang
Graduate students can achieve a graduate-level Let’s Talk about Ethical AI badge by completing the following activities:
- Attend (or watch the recording of) Peter W. Singer’s speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways
- Attend (or watch the recording of) Jerry Jones’ speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways
- Attend (or watch the recording of) Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger’s speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways
- Read Real World AI by Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger and Wilson Pang and write a reflection on main takeaways
Community members can earn this basic badge by completing these activities:
- Attending or watching the recording of THREE guest speaker talks.
- Submitting key takeaways from each of the THREE guest speaker talks to wcobili@uark.edu
- Reading this semester’s book and submitting key takeaways to wcobili@uark.edu.
