SWEET Success

The inaugural Southern Workshop on the Ethics of Emerging Technologies (SWEET) was held at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens on April 19-20, 2024. Led by Philosophy Assistant Professors Jeremy Davis and Youjin Kong, the event brought together a group of regional scholars--five from Georgia and three from Florida, as well as a handful of attendees--for two days of discussion and evaluation of cutting-edge research on the ethics of artificial intelligence. Papers were presented on an array of AI-related topics ranging from algorithmic fairness to the ethics of soldier enhancement technologies. 

"There are so many excellent philosophers working on issues surrounding the ethics of technology in the Southeast, and it is incredibly valuable to have us all together in the same room, engaging with each other's latest projects at a very high level," reports Davis, the lead organizer of the event,  highlighting UGA's commitment to serious academic research in the area of AI ethics.

"The SWEET workshop was a resounding success! It was the first event to bring together philosophers working on the ethics of emerging technologies from across the US Southeast," reports Kong. "It was a pre-read workshop and participants came well-prepared, having read the papers beforehand. This led to incredibly constructive and helpful feedback on everyone's projects, with insightful discussions and knowledge sharing."

Plans are already being discussed to make this an annual event as the field of AI expands and becomes increasingly ingrained in everyday life. "The energy in the discussions was stellar. It was such a positive, supportive, welcoming, and intellectually rich weekend," says Davis.