May 25, 2025

Duo critically analyzes AI claims in new book

GeekWire

Faculty Associate Emily Bender’s new book, “The AI Con,” takes a critical look at AI marketing and is highlighted in GeekWire’s Bot or Not? series. In the interview, Bender and her co-author Alex Hanna, the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute, discuss why it’s so important to be thoughtful about the claims around […]

May 24, 2025

Team’s research finds tech workers growing disillusioned

GeekWire

A recent study co-authored by UW student affiliate Vannary Sou found that layoffs in the tech industry have caused increasing feelings of discontent among workers. “The Cruel Optimism of Tech Work: Tech Workers’ Affective Attachments in the Aftermath of 2022-23 Tech Layoffs” was presented at CHI 2025 in Japan. The research looked at how workers […]

May 15, 2025

Impact of AI on hiring process includes bias, team research finds

Brookings

If you’re looking for a job, chances are that you’re going to intersect with AI whether you like it or not. It’s become a standard piece of the hiring and interview process for many companies. So what does this mean about how your candidacy is perceived? Co-Director Aylin Caliskan and PhD student Kyra Wilson published […]

May 9, 2025

AI impact on language is growing, Faculty Associate says

The Atlantic

Faculty Associate Emily Bender weighs in on the influence AI is having on language in a new article in The Atlantic. “The Great Language Flattening” highlights how the widespread usage of tools like ChatGPT is creating a “sameness” across writing styles. People are seeing patterns and picking up on them and in turn using them […]

April 28, 2025

Partnership brings forward responsible tech master’s course

Society + Technology

Society + Technology at UW has partnered with the University of Washington’s Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) to offer a master’s-level course in the Master of Science in Technology Innovation program (MSTI 522): The History and Future of Technology: Responsible Technological Innovation. GIX is a joint initiative between the UW College of Engineering and the Foster School of Business. The […]

April 10, 2025

Distinguished Lecture emphasizes policies can offset AI’s agnotology

Monika Sengul-Jones, Director of Society + Technology at UW

On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the Tech Policy Lab hosted Dr. Alondra Nelson for its annual Distinguished Lecture, drawing a crowd of over 350 to Kane Hall in Seattle, Washington. Nelson, the former Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, focused her remarks on “algorithmic agnotology,” which is the strategic […]

April 4, 2025

Faculty Associate encourages critical thinking around AI in new article

ARS Technica

TPL Faculty Associate Emily Bender shares thoughts about the challenging public perception of AI in a new article in ARS Technica. Bender commented on a survey comparing attitudes about AI that polled both the general public and AI experts. The findings showed the public is much less enthusiastic about the technology than experts but that […]

April 2, 2025

Article highlights contributions of women in AI

Brookings

A new article in Brookings recognizes multiple TPL affiliates as women making contributions to the field of AI. “Recognizing the (un)hidden figures in AI” lifts up the work women do that often goes unnoticed. The publication’s inaugural list identified multiple women through a review of their public accomplishments, selected for their prominence outside the industry, […]

March 3, 2025

Join new technology salon April 14

Society + Technology

Technology for the People is a Society + Technology at UW salon co-hosted with the Department of Communication’s Center for Journalism, Media, and Democracy arranged to showcase empathetic, community-focused engagement with technologies for justice and democracy. Featuring speakers from UW Seattle, UW Tacoma, and UW Bothell, the conversation will discuss efforts toward digital equity and information access in the […]

Power intersecting with media is impacting free speech, Co-Director says

KUOW/NPR

Ownership of platforms by politically powerful leaders is creating an environment of bullying and fear, Co-Director Ryan Calo said in a recent segment on KUOW. “What we’re seeing today that’s new is that some of the most influential voices who are bullying other Americans also have the reins of power, whether that be because they […]