Apr 16, 2021A Thank You Letter to the Berkman Klein Center CommunityAfter serving as the Berkman Klein Center’s executive director for twelve wonderful years and living abroad for almost twenty years, it is time for me to embark on the next chapter, which will bring me back to Europe and closer to my family. …Berkman Center3 min readBerkman Center3 min read
Published inBerkman Klein Center Collection·Dec 17, 2020Some Reflections on the Role of Government in Trustworthy AIShared at the Launch Event of Colombia’s AI Ethics Framework — I had the honor of participating in Lanzamiento de la Ética de la Inteligencia Artifical en Colombia (“Launch of Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Colombia”) on November 25, 2020, alongside Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez. My remarks highlight the different roles governments can (and should) play in promoting trustworthy AI…AI7 min readAI7 min read
Sep 17, 2020Pandemic as a “Composite Crisis” and Digital PhenomenonIntroduction to and Core Themes of a COVID-19 Essay Collection — Together with Jens Drolshammer, we just published a collection of essays as part of a transatlantic collaboration during the COVID-19 “shelter in place” period from March 16th to June 30th, 2020. The collection, written in German, is an experiment in real-time observation and reflection. …Covid-1919 min readCovid-1919 min read
Jun 26, 2020Trust and Digital Contact Tracing: Initial Insights from the Swiss Proximity Tracing Systemin collaboration with Melyssa Eigen, J.D. Candidate at Harvard Law School This essay is part of a collection written by members of the Berkman Klein Center’s Working Group on Digital Pandemic Response. The group, made up of experts from academia, civil society, the public sector, and industry, takes on difficult…Public Health Tools6 min readPublic Health Tools6 min read
Apr 29, 2020“Apps” against Covid-19? A (Swiss) call for an integrative approachTechnical discussions should pay attention to public health experiences, legal frameworks, and ethical principles — Translation of our op-ed published today in Neue Zürcher Zeitung by Kerstin Noëlle Vokinger & Urs Gasser Digital technologies and data play historically a unique role in dealing with COVID-19. Various types of digital applications in the fight against the pandemic are being tested and deployed around the globe. …Contact Tracing4 min readContact Tracing4 min read
Published inBerkman Klein Center Collection·Apr 25, 2019The Role of Professional Norms in AI Governance: Some Observations and Outline of a Frameworkby Urs Gasser & Carolyn Schmitt It is hard to keep up with the various efforts underway that develop ethical principles and other norms aimed at governing a broad range of AI-based technologies (we use the shortcut “AI” for readability only). Current initiatives involve governments, international organizations, standard setting organizations…Ethics7 min readEthics7 min read
Published inBerkman Klein Center Collection·Sep 29, 2017In AI We Trust?Do you trust Artificial Intelligence? “Not yet,” was the overwhelming response to an informal survey conducted among a small and non-representative, but rather diverse group of experts who were invited by the Digital Asia Hub to engage in a global roundtable discussion about AI and Trust during an official side…Artificial Intelligence5 min readArtificial Intelligence5 min read
Published inBerkman Klein Center Collection·Sep 6, 2017What Makes Information Valuable? Information Quality, RevisitedEarly in my academic life, as a doctoral student at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and influenced by the St. Gallen School of Information Law developed by Jean Nicolas Druey and Herbert Burkert in the late ’90s and early 2000, I began studying an issue that has received…Technology8 min readTechnology8 min read
Published inBerkman Klein Center Collection·Jun 26, 2017AI and the Law: Setting the StageWhile there is reasonable hope that superhuman killer robots won’t catch us anytime soon, narrower types of AI-based technologies have started changing our daily lives: AI applications are rolled out at an accelerated pace in schools, homes, and hospitals, with digital leaders such as high tech, telecom, and financial services…Artificial Intelligence12 min readArtificial Intelligence12 min read
Published inMIT MEDIA LAB·May 18, 2017Autonomous Systems — Is it time for empirical research?Earlier this week, the Berkman Klein Center in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab hosted an AI Advance, a community event to kick off our collaboration as part of the recently launched Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence initiative (learn more about our current work plan here). In a fascinating…Artificial Intelligence4 min readArtificial Intelligence4 min read
