Ken Fleischmann, Professor, School of Information, UT Austin
What does your work look like, and what have you been working on lately?
My research focuses on the ethical implications of AI-based technologies. I am the Founding Chair of Good Systems, a UT Grand Challenge, a campus-wide research initiative which is designing AI-based technologies that benefit society. My latest project, funded by Microsoft and Good Systems, involves designing smart hand tools that leverage AI to empower blue-collar workers. Another ongoing project explores how AI can be used to improve services for and empower people experiencing homelessness, funded by the City of Austin and Good Systems. Currently, I am a PI on two NSF grants, Co-PI on two more, and Senior Person on an additional two, totaling over $24M. I am also the Founding Director of the UT-Austin iSchool’s B.S.I./B.A. in Informatics, launched in fall 2021, which includes concentrations such as Social Justice Informatics, Human-Centered Data Science, and User Experience Design.
How has your career path unfolded?
AI ethics has been my research focus for over twenty years. As an undergraduate, I double-majored in Computer Science and Anthropology. I was able to combine these interests by completing my M.S. and Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies, which applies social scientific and humanistic approaches to understanding the relationship among science, technology, and society. During my doctoral study, I conducted research on AI transparency and trust in digital information. By joining the information field, I have been able to collaborate with computer scientists, engineers, and public policy experts. Having the opportunity to lead the development and launch of a research grand challenge that expands my topic of research across the campus has been the honor of a lifetime. I have also had an opportunity to play a leadership role as inaugural directors of two doctoral programs and founding chair of an undergraduate program.
How did you get into the field of Public Interest Technology (PIT)?
Back to my days as an undergraduate, I have always aimed for my research to make an impact on society. Here at UT-Austin, had the opportunity to build collaborations with the City of Austin during my term as the Founding Chair of Good Systems, including funding seven collaborative research projects between the City of Austin and UT. One of these projects, on using AI to empower people experiencing homelessness, with Sherri Greenberg of the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Min Kyung Lee and Steve Slota of the iSchool, was recognized as the MetroLab Innovation of the Month for July 2020 and has since led to funding from the City of Austin through our Interlocal Agreement. Sherri and I also collaborated on a project funded by Cisco Research on AI ethics, law, and policy, which led us to collaborate on a policy proposal for the Day One Project as part of their PIT accelerator in collaboration with PIT-UN. Research that I conducted in collaboration with Danna Gurari resulted in our receiving a 2019 Civic Futures Award for Designing for the 100%. PIT-UN has generously provided funding that allowed us to organize and host on the UT campus a conference on Undergraduate Informatics Education, which allowed us to identify shared research visions both nationally and locally in Austin. In the latter regard, I was fortunate to be able to meet Amanda Masino of Huston-Tillotson University, Saro Mohammed of Capacity Catalyst, and Paulette Blanc of MEASURE. Our respective organizations, an R1 University, a small liberal arts HBCU, and two data science and social justice-oriented nonprofits, along with the City of Austin, developed the PIT-UN Social Justice Informatics Faculty Fellows Program, bringing together faculty from six colleges and schools at UT, four departments at HT, eight local nonprofits, and several government departments.
If students are interested in pursuing a career in PIT, where might they start?
Awareness is the most important aspect – career pipelines are normally oriented toward corporate placements, so just being open to career paths where technology skills can be more directly leveraged toward the public interest is the first step. My research focuses on the role of human values in the design and use of information technologies, and I strongly believe that our work needs to align with our values. So, I recommend that students explore organizations in the public and nonprofit sectors that share their values, and look for opportunities within those organizations, including potentially starting with paid or unpaid internship roles that often lead to long-term employment opportunities. Another possibility is to pursue a career in academia, including collaborating with government and nonprofit organizations. For the latter path, it makes sense to explore doctoral programs and potential advisors with ongoing PIT research projects.