BKC Research Clinic Explores Challenges & Opportunities of Public Sector AI Policy in Partnership with City of Helsinki

Early career scholars from around the world navigate the legal, technical, social, and ethical dimensions of successful implementation of AI policy

Jul 6, 2021

Ethics and Governance of AI

The Berkman Klein Center’s Ethics of Digitalization initiative, in collaboration with the City of Helsinki, their partner Saidot, the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers, and under the patronage of the Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will begin a 3-week Summer 2021 AI Policy Research Clinic in July with a global cohort of 13 early career scholars. The AI Policy Research Clinic brings together collaborators from partnering institutions, field experts, and graduate students to analyze a real-world use case at the intersection of digital technologies, education, and ethics.

The Summer 2021 AI Policy Research group

The Research Clinic will translate best practices and principles concerning the use of AI by public service providers into actionable measures, particularly in the context of municipal educational programs. The cohort will focus on challenges related to community involvement, participatory design, and stakeholder engagement as well as mechanisms for ensuring accountability and oversight.

Through consultation with our partnering organizations, participants will learn the specific features of proposed AI interventions, help define key risks, goals, and metrics, and offer public interest-oriented implementation support in key governance areas. With the assistance of expert mentors, the early career scholars will select aspect(s) of the proposed ethical AI governance framework to focus on. Topics the Clinic will cover include the design of stakeholder impact assessments, the organization and responsibilities of an ethics oversight team, and the development of an application-specific risk analysis.

The Clinic is intended to enable the practical application of the cohort’s collective skills to address specifically articulated challenges from real world contexts. With participants and experts from many disciplines and across the globe, the Clinic will promote interdisciplinary collaboration, mutual learning, and open exchange.