Neely Ethics and Tech Update

Issue 1

Welcome to the new newsletter for USC Marshall’s Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making. If you are receiving this message, it is because you are subscribed to our blog, Designing Tomorrow, a collaborative effort between the Neely Center and the Psychology of Technology Institute. While Designing Tomorrow will continue to provide longer analytical pieces on the psychology of technology and ethical design, this newsletter will provide monthly center updates, short reflections, research insights, and exclusive invitations to events and funding opportunities related to ethics & technology. We understand the importance of curating your inbox, so please feel free to unsubscribe from either newsletter at any time.

I’m excited to introduce our impressive team (see below) as well as this new space where we’ll share ideas and form new partnerships. As a reminder, the Neely Center was founded in 2015 through a generous donation by Jerry and Nancy Neely, and we have recently embarked on a mission to help leaders solve one of the most difficult, but most important, challenges of our time: how to align emerging technologies—from simple algorithms to advanced artificial intelligence—with ethical, human-centered values.

We’re excited to continue on this journey with you and look forward to fostering a deeper conversation and understanding around leadership, ethics, and technology in our rapidly changing world.

Sincerely,

Nate Fast, Director

In this inaugural edition, we would like to introduce our team members, both old and new. Each member brings unique skills and insights that advance our work.

Nathanael Fast, Executive Director. Nate is the Jorge Paulo and Susanna Lemann Chair in Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor of Management at USC Marshall. He studies the psychological underpinnings of power, leadership, and technology adoption. He obtained his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University.

Joo-Wha Hong, Postdoctoral Fellow. Joo-Wha is investigating the social role of autonomous machines, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), with an emphasis on the cognitive and psychological attributes of human-AI interaction. He obtained his Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Southern California.

Ravi Iyer, Managing Director. Ravi is a technologist and academic psychologist, working to improve technology's impact on society. Prior to joining the Neely Center he led data science, research, and product teams across Facebook toward improving the societal impact of social media. He was also a cofounder and the initial Chief Data Scientist at Ranker.com. He obtained his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Southern California.

Matt Motyl, Senior Advisor. Matt is fascinated by the ways in which technology can shape society. He has studied cognitive biases, misinformation, threats to democracy, and well-being for over 17 years. He has spent the past 7-plus years working to use technology to promote the social good by consulting with numerous companies, civil society organizations, and policymakers. He obtained his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Jimmy Narang, Postdoctoral Fellow. Jimmy is a microeconomist with broad interests in behavioral economics and economic development. He aims to answer questions related to social norms, social networks, and belief formation, as well as persistent inequalities in income, opportunity, and power. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from UC Berkeley.

Juliana Schroeder, Affiliate Faculty Director. Juliana is the Harold Furst Chair in Management Philosophy and Values at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She is a behavioral scientist who investigates the psychological processes that influence how people perceive the minds of others, particularly in workplace contexts. She obtained her MBA and Ph.D. in Psychology and Business from the University of Chicago.

Parama Sigurdsen, Research Program Managers. With more than 15 years of experience in the higher education sector, Parama specializes in operations management, research administration, program planning, and human resources development. She is excited to apply her skills to advance the goals of the Neely Center by fostering strategic and inclusive collaborations with key partners.

Yunhao (Jerry) Zhang, Postdoctoral Fellow. Jerry’s research explores the effects of emerging technologies on individual and societal well-being. His ongoing projects encompass a range of topics, including the influence of generative AI on academia and society, consumer perceptions of AI, collective intelligence, motivated reasoning and partisan bias, as well as methods for persuasion and combating misinformation. He obtained his Ph.D. in Management from MIT.

Shift SC. We are pleased to announce our sponsorship of Shift SC a student-led organization at USC that aims to catalyze a shift toward a socially responsible technological future. Through various avenues such as speaker events, workshops, curricula, career fairs, and research, Shift SC facilitates meaningful dialogues and actions that address the ethical implications of technology. The Neely Center is pleased to extend its support to Shift SC's initiatives and is committed to guiding the organization toward success. 

Prosocial Design Network. The Neely Center is excited to become the Founding Sponsor of the Prosocial Design Network (PDN) a nonprofit organization composed of technology experts dedicated to advancing prosocial design principles. In collaboration with the PDN, we are advocating for responsible design across various technology platforms. Together, we seek to exert a significant impact on policy-making and strategic development related to responsible technological advancements, thereby influencing a broad range of companies and thought leaders in the field.

HumanTech Summit in Poland. We are co-sponsoring the second edition of the international scientific conference, HumanTech Summit, organized by the HumanTech Center at SWPS University, and set to take place on December 9–10, 2023. It is the only research center in Poland that brings together social and technological innovations, operating at a humanities university. The Neely Center is proud to provide support for this unique gathering that is set to spread the use of ethical decision-making tools, such as the Neely Indices. Abstract submission period is open until October 13, 2023. 

Trust and Safety Research Conference 2023. Hosted at Stanford University, the Trust and Safety Research Conference took place on September 28-29, 2023. The event brought together a cross-disciplinary group of academics and researchers from computer science, sociology, law, and political science to connect with practitioners and policymakers on challenges and new ideas for studying and addressing online trust and safety issues. Both Nate Fast and Ravi Iyer presented at the event.

2nd Annual Metaverse Summit. Nate Fast will be speaking at the 2nd Annual Metaverse Summit: Building Connections and Communities through Mixed Reality on October 10, 2023, in Los Angeles. His panel will focus on the topic: "Moving at the Speed of Innovation: How Can Policy Keep Up?" If interested, you can register here. 

Build Peace 2023. We are pleased to co-sponsor Build Peace, a global conference and community of practice that examines emergent ethical challenges and solutions to peace building in the digital age. This year, the conference is scheduled for December 1-3, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Neely team will conduct a workshop at the conference to help inform our work on improving the global impact of AI adoption. Registration for the 2023 Build Peace conference is now open.

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Conference. The Global AI Conference took place on September 27-29, 2023. This virtual event focused on artificial intelligence (AI). The Neely Center's Ravi Iyer presented at the keynote panel on Day 1 on Generative AI: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility. 

Pro-Social Speakers Series. Ravi Iyer was the inaugural speaker for the Pro-Social series on September 26, 2023. At the event, Ravi presented the Center's "Design Code for Social Media.' The talk series is organized by the ProSocial Design Network (PDN).

The Algorithmic Management of Polarization and Violence on Social Media. This paper published by the Knight First Amendment Institute and co-authored by our Managing Director, Ravi Iyer, argues that social media platforms often inadvertently incentivize divisive and potentially violent behavior in conflict settings through their focus on engagement-based content distribution. The authors propose that these platforms could better manage conflict by shifting away from solely using content moderation, instead adopting a conflict-sensitive design that includes public guidelines and practical conflict metrics.

The ‘Product Environment’ is an Important Driver of Health. It’s Time to Measure It. This is an intriguing article recently published in the American Journal of Health Promotion. Co-authored by Steve Downs, the article argues that commercial products and services exert a significant influence on public health and calls for comprehensive measures to assess and account for this impact. You can read the full article here.

Generative AI & Elections: The Open Source* Problem. In this interesting talk, Psychology of Technology Institute’s Senior Advisor, David Evan Harris, goes in-depth on the specific risks of Generative AI to elections and, in particular, how open-source AI poses the greatest risk in this area.

The Political Attitudes of Social Media Users. Matt Motyl, Senior Advisor to the Neely Center, examines the political identities, extremity, and polarization of users of the most popular social media outlets in this Substack post.

Which Social Media Platforms Foster Meaningful Connections Between People? This Substack post, also by Matt Motyl, takes a deeper dive into the USC Neely Center's Social Media Index, elaborating on one of the positive user experiences we are measuring: the feeling of being connected. 

Plurality Institute’s Spring Symposium: Bridging the Divide. The Plurality Institute organized their Spring Symposium: Bridging the Divide. This live streamed event delved deep into exploring the theme of “bridging” during a time of increasing polarization. At the symposium, Ravi Iyer underscored the value of diversity in improving algorithms.

How Much Has Social Media Affected Polarization? In his blog post, Tom Cunningham, addresses the impact of social media on political polarization in the US. He talks about a number of experiments conducted during the 2020 elections and discusses the possible scale of aggregate contribution of social media, which may have been greater than we thought.

How User Experience Metrics Complement "Content that Requires Enforcement”. A Bloomberg article leveraged the Neely Social Media Index to examine an emerging trend on Twitter—a surge in harmful posts potentially undermining advertiser trust and revenue.

How Tech Regulation Can Leverage Product Experimentation Results. Co-written by Ravi Iyer, Neely’s Managing Director, and Nathaniel Lubin, this Lawfare article emphasizes the need for transparency in technology regulation, particularly concerning the experimental results that tech companies use for product decisions. The authors propose a system where product experiment records and their impact on decisions and goals are shared with approved third-party reviewers and published on a regulated timeline, ensuring scrutiny while respecting business innovation and user privacy.

Tech Layoffs Ravage the Teams That Fight Online Misinformation and Hate Speech. AI, tech giants have conducted extensive layoffs in recent months, predominantly in departments dedicated to trust, safety, and AI ethics. Ravi Iyer, Neely’s Managing Director, comments in this CNBC article that if platforms do not invest in reconsidering design choices that have proven harmful, then there is indeed cause for concern.

Platform Design as a Lever to Address Misinformation and Hate across Contexts: at the "Social Media and Society in India Symposium" at the University of Michigan School of Information, our Managing Director, Ravi Iyer, talked about platform design to address misinformation.

Civic Health Project Funding Opportunity: The Civic Health Project is offering a unique chance to make a significant impact in combating digital polarization. They are awarding five mini-grants of $5,000 each to pioneer digital interventions that leverage Local Linear Models (LLMs) to mitigate toxic online polarization. The Request for Proposals (RFP) is streamlined for ease of application, requiring only a 250-word Letter of Intent (LOI). This presents an excellent opportunity for graduate students and researchers to translate their ideas into actionable projects. A subsequent funding round is planned to transition one or two of these interventions from the proof-of-concept stage to application.

Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Non-Residential Fellows Program: The CDT is now accepting applications for its 2024 cohort of non-residential Fellows, focusing on critical tech policy issues such as privacy, free expression, and election integrity. This fellowship provides a platform for researchers to publish their work for diverse audiences, engage in interdisciplinary dialogues, and directly influence policymakers in both the U.S. and the EU. The program is open to candidates with advanced degrees (e.g., Ph.D., J.D.) in various fields, including but not limited to communications, public policy, computer science, and law. Applicants should be affiliated with an academic institution at the time of their application and submit a cover letter, resume, and one previously published writing sample. Contact CDT for inquiries at: research@cdt.org.

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