Maxwell School News and Commentary

“Machine Learning (ML) Platforms Can Contradict Dairy Scientists and Feed Firm Websites Regarding Dairy Cattle Performance from Feeding Seaweed Supplements,” co-authored by Professor of Sociology Rick Welsh, was published in Choices.

Professor of Geography and the Environment Farhana Sultana, concerned about how her work may be repurposed, says, “All this occurs while our intellectual property is woefully inadequately compensated, since there is abuse and profit off our mostly free intellectual labor by private corporations reaping profits in the billions of dollars annually from the sale of our books.”

“Immigrants, notably those from the Chinese community, have been instrumental in driving innovation in AI and America’s broader high-tech industry, which suffers from a domestic ‘talent crisis.’ Addressing this challenge demands more favorable immigration policies...and a reduction in the hostility faced by Chinese scientists,” writes Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology.

The Autonomous Systems Policy Institute, housed in the Maxwell School, is an inaugural member of U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium.

"Against 'Democratizing AI'," authored by Johannes Himmelreich, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs, was published in AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication.

The Hon. James E. Baker, professor of public administration and international affairs by courtesy appointment, expects the complexity of models to make controversies over AI evidence more vexing than debates over DNA evidence. “The challenge with AI is every AI model is different,” he said, “What’s more, AI models are constantly learning and changing.”

In the glory days of the American labor movement, when unions were strong and wages rose alongside productivity, “organized workers could cash that out as more free time,” says Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology. “But for decades, workers haven’t even been getting that choice because, for the most part, productivity growth has ended up as higher profits and more inequality.”

Two Syracuse University institutes are welcoming researchers, academic leaders, policymakers and journalists for discussions in Washington, D.C., about innovations, vulnerabilities and the future of artificial intelligence. The two-day AI Policy Symposium that begins Thursday in the nation’s capital is organized by the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship and the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute.

The Autonomous Systems Policy Institute has partnered with the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship for the two-day event.