Leading expert in Responsible AI, Kay Firth-Butterfield, joins Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society as visiting scholar
Society will face drastic changes as we all begin to access artificial intelligence (AI) programs for increased efficiency in performing tasks previously conducted by humans. From education and healthcare to law enforcement and industry, AI is being developed for every area of our lives–but without guardrails to minimize risk and ensure equitable representation, the rapid increase in machine learning might leave humanity behind.
The University of Notre Dame's Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society has appointed Kay Firth-Butterfield as a visiting scholar, focusing on the responsible and inclusive development and deployment of AI across diverse applications and use cases.
“When we consider transparency, bias, or discrimination in AI, we often think in terms of ethics, but ethics can vary considerably from person to person or from culture to culture,” said Firth-Butterfield. “My research focuses on responsible AI and ways to develop broader principles and practices in behaving responsibly while using and developing machine learning models.”
Firth-Butterfield is collaborating with several Notre Dame faculty including Nitesh Chawla, founding director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, and Olaf Wiest, the Grace-Rupley Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and also on the Advisory Committee of the Lucy Family Institute, to consider responsible policies for AI deployment across several disciplines.
Her work includes projects with the National Science Foundation Center for Computer-Assisted Synthesis (C-CAS). Firth-Butterfield, Chawla, and Wiest, the director of C-CAS, will work together with the rest of the C-CAS team to develop responsible use principles and practices for developing and deploying AI for use in chemistry.
In April 2024, Firth-Butterfield visited the University as part of the Lucy Family Institute’s ongoing series, The Soc(AI)ety Seminars. The 2023-2024 edition of The Soc(AI)ety Seminars focused on Responsible AI and AI Governance.
“I am thrilled to welcome Kay to Notre Dame as a visiting scholar for the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society,” said Chawla, who is also the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. “She is a distinguished scholar and I look forward to her contributions to deepening our commitment to guiding responsible AI innovation for a world in need,” he added.
Firth-Butterfield is the CEO of Good Tech Advisory LLC. and served as the inaugural Head of AI and Machine Learning for the World Economic Forum (WEF) from 2017 to 2023. While at the WEF, she pioneered novel guidelines to cultivate a responsible technology culture in AI and quantum computing that could be used by businesses in the private and public sectors. Firth-Butterfield began her professional career in England as a barrister-at-law and served a part-time appointment as a judge.
In 2024, she received the Time magazine Impact award and was recognized in Forbes 50 over 50 for her work in AI Governance.
To learn more about Kay Firth-Butterfield, please visit her website.
Contact:
Christine Grashorn, Program Director, Engagement and Strategic Storytelling
Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society / University of Notre Dame
cgrashor@nd.edu / 574.631.4856
lucyinstitute.nd.edu / @lucy_institute
About the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society
Guided by Notre Dame’s Mission, the Lucy Family Institute adventurously collaborates on advancing data-driven and artificial intelligence (AI) convergence research, translational solutions, and education to ethically address society’s wicked problems. As an innovative nexus of academia, industry, and the public, the Institute also fosters data science and artificial intelligence access to strengthen diverse and inclusive capacity building within communities.
Latest Research
- Six new faculty members join Notre Dame psychology department to advance research on mental health, sleep disorders, substance use, and other issuesThe new assistant professors — Ryan Carpenter, Haya Fatimah, Kaylin Hill, Matthew Robison, Elizabeth Shewark, and Ivan Vargas — will further research in their subfields of cognitive, behavioral, clinical, and developmental psychology. Their scholarly work will aim to address the psychological causes and effects of various issues such as trauma, self-harm, sleep disorders, and substance use disorder.
- Professor Emeritus Clark Power Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award from President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and NutritionAt their annual meeting on Friday, September 6th, the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition awarded a lifetime impact award to Dr. Clark Power, professor emeritus of liberal studies at Notre Dame and executive director of the Play Like a Champion Today Educational Series. “I…
- MSE PhD fellowship projects focus on quantum materials, topological crystalline superconductors, biomaterial scaffolds, Kagome metals, and organic semiconductor materialsThe University of Notre Dame’s Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) program has awarded fellowships to five graduate students for the 2024-2025 academic year.
- Notre Dame juniors Faiza Filali, Angela Olvera named Obama-Chesky Voyager ScholarsUniversity of Notre Dame juniors Faiza Filali and Angela Olvera have been named to the third cohort of Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholars. They are Notre Dame’s second and third Voyager Scholars after senior Raleigh Kuipers, who recently returned from Latin America as a member of the second cohort.
- 2024-25 Rita Bahr Cari Scholars AnnouncedThe Klau Institute is proud to announce its Rita Bahr Cari Memorial Fund Scholars for 2024-25. The recipients are human rights lawyers from Latin America enrolled in the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law. This year's recipients are: …
- Meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as an American Agenda through Localization, Compassion, and Youth EmpowermentContinued, principled U.S. participation and leadership at the U.N. is not simply a diplomatic politesse, but a necessary way forward towards creating a safer, sustainable, more prosperous world. Current data shows the world is 43 years behind schedule to meet the 2030 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a shared global and domestic agenda intended to improve quality of life for people and the planet.
