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How are autonomous systems and artificial intelligence shaping our world?

Autonomous Systems Policy Institute

Autonomous systems graphic
Hamid Ekbia headshot
Hamid Ekbia has been appointed to serve as the next director of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute beginning July 2023 and will join the Maxwell School as a University Professor in January.
Jamie Winders speaking at conference

The summit provided the opportunity for manufacturing, government, technology and academic interests to collectively explore ways the United States can elevate its leadership in advanced air mobility systems. Winders’ panel discussed the industry supply chain, the policies and regulatory frameworks needed to govern the use of flying vehicles and the impacts of the technology on society.

MRI Healthy and Alzheimer Brain Comparison

Their research is the first to develop an effective machine learning approach to identify latent patterns of preclinical Alzheimer's Disease from MRI brain scans.

Chart - Trends for press release exaggeration rates
The recognition includes an award of $100,000 annually for the next two academic years, as well as access to use of the state-of-the-art Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. Yu expects to use the Microsoft fund to further her research on identifying exaggeration in health claims.
An elderly person putting in her hearing aid
Krista Kennedy and co-authors examine transparency and disclosure information of next-generation medical wearables.

Artificial Intelligence Research Working Group


Collaboration amongst experts of varying disciplines and areas of expertise fortify the value of ASPI's contribution to policy analysis and recommendations.

ASPI faculty and the institute's partners meet the third Wednesday of every month to discuss methods and research tools, funding opportunities and aspirational projects.

Leadership Summit

The future involves all of us.

Interested in partnering with ASPI?

Study Opportunities at Syracuse University

ASPI encourages graduate and undergraduate students to get involved with our work and our faculty. We'll help you identify relevant research questions for your dissertations, theses or honors papers; connect you to Syracuse University faculty studying autonomous systems and artificial intelligence; and find courses on different aspects of autonomous systems.

Sample Selection of Courses

Smart Cities and Urban Policy (PST 367)


As the demand for resources in city centers becomes intense, public administrators look to telecommunications and automation digitalization—under the moniker of “Smart Cities”—to address a variety of policy goals. In this course, we examine how these solutions fit into our conceptual understanding, and the broader governance, of the city.

Using Robots to Understand the Mind (PSY 620)


Cognitive science explains behavior mechanistically. This course uses simple, autonomous, mobile robots as model cognitive agents. By doing cognitive science on these robots, we come to understand what it means to say that “cognition is computation”.

Ethics of Emerging Technology (HNR 360)(PHI 750)


This course aims to train students to use philosophical frameworks to analyze issues raised by emerging technologies and to equip them with key conceptual distinctions to engage arguments in existing debates and to develop and articulate their own views.

Using Drones in the Classroom and for Research


Geography professor Jane Read teaches "Introduction to Unmanned Aerial Systems," a course for graduate and undergraduate students that explores the regulatory and legal frameworks that manage drone usage, as well as data collection and processing for studying drone use-case possibilities and limits.

April 3, 2023

ChatGPT:  Charms and Challenges

Eggers Hall, 220 (Strasser Legacy Room)

1:30PM-5:00PM

April 4, 2023

ASPI Grad Lab

Eggers Hall, 152

3:00PM-4:00PM

Autonomous Systems Policy Institute
309B Maxwell Hall