Society Ethics Technology (SET)
Joint initiative between JOPRO and OREL exploring the intersections of society, ethics, and technology.
Society Ethics Technology (SET) is a JOPRO working group which was originally established within Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory (OREL) in January 2021. SET grew out of cross-disciplinary collaborations on how technology shapes daily life—and how society, policy, and ethics can shape technology in return. Our work centers on the intersections of technology, ethics, and society, building dialogue and collaboration between those who design technologies and those who study, regulate, or apply them in diverse domains.
Overview
Focus Areas Data ethics & AI safety (with an emphasis on interpretability & explainability) Law & policy for emerging technologies Shared risk and governance Technology-education access Open-source sustainability Neuroethics & human–technology interaction Our Vision SET is committed to advancing a responsible and inclusive technological future—one where innovation is paired with ethical awareness, transparency, and sustainability. By bridging the gap between technology development and its societal implications, we aim to equip communities, researchers, and practitioners with the insight and tools needed to navigate a rapidly changing world.
Projects
Evaluating LLM Morality: Addressing the Facsimile Problem
Getting behind model outputs to ask whether moral reasoning is actually happening
Ethical Policy Analyzer
Towards standardizing and increased transparency in ESG reporting
JOPRO & the New Learning Ecosystem
Contextual, developmental, and trajectory-aware learning in interdisciplinary spaces
Something In The Way
Ethnography of 21st century directionlessness
Publications
JOPRO & the New Learning Ecosystem: Designing Tools and Communities to Foster Contextual, Developmental, and Trajectory-Aware Learning in Inter-/Un-disciplinary Spaces
UC San Diego Education Innovation Expo
Key Concepts in Tech Careers and Tech Ethics in 2023
ACM NYCWiC 2023
Ethical Implications of Programmatically Generated Content
ACM NYCWiC 2023
Open-source Community Sustainability using Agent-based Models
Our Virtual Lives and Digital Companionship: Opportunities and Challenges of Shared Experience in an Augmented Century
WeRobot 2022
Frontiers in Data Privacy and Tech Ethics
ACM NYCWiC 2022
Challenges and Opportunities in Integrating Critical Voices in AI Ethics: Towards a Unified Ethical Framework for AI
ACM NYCWiC 2021
AI and Equality: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Confronting AI Bias
ACM NYCWiC 2019
Members
Programs & Initiatives
Data x Direction
Examining how data science practices and tools intersect with ethical decision-making, human-centered AI, and governance frameworks.
DigiNEST
Digital Narratives and Emerging Story Technologies (DigiNEST). A discussion series exploring how digital tools reshape narrative, authorship, and agency.
Open-source Sustainability
A multi-year initiative investigating the long-term health and sustainability of open-source communities through agent-based modeling, active inference, and cybernetic approaches.
Venues
Where this group's work has appeared.