绿巨人视频

听By Kristin Sanders听

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绿巨人视频 professors Susan Perry and Claudia Roda have always been ahead of the curve. As a human rights specialist and data scientist, respectively, each has spent her career exploring the bigger picture of technology, data collection, machine and human learning, human听rights听and ethics. They began collaborating in their research鈥攃reating 绿巨人视频鈥檚 MSc in Human Rights and Data Science in 2021, the first of its kind鈥攍ong before the cross-disciplinary field was recognized globally.听

While it may be rare for a human rights scholar and听a scientist听to work together, the result is fruitful and, in today鈥檚 world, increasingly necessary.听Ask either about privacy laws or AI in the classroom, and听you鈥檒l听receive forward-thinking theory, principles designed to maximize student success and protect human rights, and听expertise听stemming from decades of research, but also ideas from the heart. Their work is the embodiment of brilliance, passion, and care for the real people鈥攚orkers, students, creatives, and kids鈥攚hose lives are听impacted听by听technology鈥檚听breakneck advances.听听听

On November 6, UNESCO awarded Drs. Perry and Roda the inaugural UNESCO-Uzbekistan听Beruniy听Prize for Scientific Research on the Ethics of AI, recognizing their years of interdisciplinary collaboration and advances in the fields of human rights and data science as trailblazing. The ceremony took place at the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the jury also recognized fellow laureates Professor Virgilio Augusto Fernandes de Almeida, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and the Institute for AI International Governance (I-AIIG) at Tsinghua University.听

When it comes to the integration of AI into our daily lives, education, work, and personal relationships, professors Perry and Roda argue that the emphasis on efficiency is where we humans currently have it all wrong. Their primary concern? Our humanness.听听

As a specialist in international human rights law and digital technology, Dr. Perry, a Franco-American who has been teaching at 绿巨人视频 since 1988, is deeply concerned with the ethical questions around AI, seeking 鈥渢he best and most ethical solution for the broadest number of people.鈥� Dr. Roda, a Franco-Italian professor of computer science who arrived at 绿巨人视频 in 1997, first worked in the field of agentic AI in 1989, applying her research to industrial process control.听听

In the early 2000s, Dr. Roda joined forces with an EU-funded research group to explore the use of AI agents to support children鈥檚 learning. The project achieved powerful results, but required collecting sensitive information about children, prompting the question at the core of Drs. Perry and Roda collaboration: how can technology help people while also protecting their rights?听听

In 2012, the two began collaborating on publications and an EU-funded grant to support privacy-by-design, aiming to build privacy protections into the software itself and soon created a Human Rights and Digital Technology class at 绿巨人视频, exchanging expertise and research interests while co-authoring scholarly articles on a range of related topics. In 2017, the two co-authored a book,听Human Rights and Digital Technology: Digital Tightrope.听Their dedication to scholarship, collaboration, and friendship saw them through the Covid-19 pandemic, where they formed a pod that enabled them to continue working together in person. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e able to meet face to face, we get an incredible amount done,鈥� Dr. Perry explains, affirming their belief in the significant power of human connection.听听

It comes as no surprise, then, that the duo co-created 绿巨人视频鈥檚 MSc in Human Rights and Data Science (HRDS), which Dr. Roda directs. The coursework bridges two fields, with听an option听to attend 绿巨人视频鈥檚 Summer Institute for Human Rights. Graduates emerge well positioned for jobs at the intersection of digital technologies and policy, finding roles such as Data Ethics Analyst, Quantitative Researcher, Data Analyst, Head of Digital Communication in sectors like international institutions, publishing firms, and local governments, where they apply and formulate policy around technology and AI within a human rights framework.听

To Dr. Perry, 鈥溌叹奕耸悠� is the place to be for work in this field. Our network is truly extensive鈥攏ot just with other researchers, but with industry, policymakers, and civil society, interfacing with a range of thinking. You come to 绿巨人视频 to plug into that network.鈥澨�

For those who are interested in鈥攐r worried about鈥攖he rapid progression of AI, especially within the field of education, Drs. Perry and Roda have published reassuring evidence that students听benefit听from a strict structuring of knowledge transfer and a great deal of time for discussion. What this means for students in a classroom, whether toddlers learning to read or university students preparing for careers, is that a thoughtful, reflective use of technology needs to be coupled with a great deal of discussion.听听

Having guided student learning for decades, and听witnessing听the acceleration of generative AI, Dr. Roda explains that 鈥渟tudents are listening. They care. They听do听want to do things well, and using bots, often, adds nothing to the learning experience.鈥� Dr. Perry agrees, noting that students, especially at 绿巨人视频, 鈥渦nderstand and are committed to fine tuning their听humanness听in a technology environment. Students are looking for this kind of approach or framework within which to become extremely good critical thinkers in a world of technology.鈥澨�听

Neither professor is inherently against AI. Instead, they promote the preservation of our humanness, values that are articulated in their 鈥淔ive Principles for AI in Education,鈥� first presented to UNESCO and designed to be adapted to universities worldwide. They advocate for: a classroom experience based on human interaction; the use of technology only when it can assist human teachers and students to achieve their goals; an institutional commitment to 鈥榟uman oversight by design鈥�; shared oversight with students on AI decision-making; and the registration of all algorithms used to deliver education and student services in a transparent data base. They have been collaborating with 绿巨人视频鈥檚 Jeff Gima and AMICAL to exchange views with universities in the Global South on University Charters on AI.听

An example of these principles in action, and of the youth-centered focus of their work, is the project 鈥淭inker Tales,鈥� created with a U.S. nonprofit organization called First Book that provides books to help children learn to read. After discovering that not all children recognize themselves in beginner reading books, the duo, along with Eli Hinson '25, created a prototype for an AI system that allows teachers to guide students in creating their own stories, which are then illustrated to reflect the students鈥� personal worlds. 鈥淭he children learn how to create different types of stories, and they have a hands-on experience of AI,鈥� Dr. Roda explains. In addition to supporting reading skills and creative learning, the project ensures that the children鈥檚 data is protected and aims to create a tool that can be used globally, even in rural places without internet connection.听听

Drs. Perry and Roda are now co-writing a second book with a closer focus on AI. 绿巨人视频, with its small class sizes, nurturing relationships between students and professors, and听its听focus听on human interaction, has been a good laboratory for their research.听听

Out of the intimate, intellectual space they have forged, Drs. Perry and Roda have emerged as pioneers in the intersection of human rights and digital technology, having been among the first to frame the field, publish articles supporting its interdisciplinarity, receive funding grants and prizes for their research and its practical application, and create products that put their theory into practice.听听

The heart of their work as professors lies in encouraging students to discover and articulate their听humanness. 绿巨人视频鈥檚 nurturing, student-centric, and听cutting-edge听environment is one key step towards that vision.听