Algorithms and Accountability Conference

January 20, 2015

Scholars, stakeholders, and policymakers question the adequacy of existing mechanisms governing algorithmic decision-making and grapple with new challenges presented by the rise of algorithmic power in terms of transparency, fairness, and equal treatment. Algorithms increasingly shape our news, economic options, and educational trajectories.

The centrality and concerns about algorithmic decision making have only increased since we hosted the Governing Algorithms conference in May 2013. This event will build upon that conversation to address legal, policy and ethical challenges related to algorithmic power in three specific contexts: media production and consumption, commerce, and education.

Organization

Organized by the Information Law Institute, NYU School of Law, it is cosponsored by NYU Steinhardt Department of Media, Culture and Communications, the Intel Science & Technology Center for Social Computing and Microsoft.

The organizing committee consists of Joris van Hoboken, Helen Nissenbau and Elana Zeide.

Date and Location

Saturday, February 28th, 2015, New York University, Lipton Hall, 108 West Third Street, NYC.

Program

8:30 – 9:00 Welcome
9:00 – 9:30

Conference Opening

9:30 – 11:00

FIRESTARTERS

moderated by Karen Levy (NYU)

Meg Leta Jones (Georgetown University), Solon Barocas (Princeton University), Seda Gürses (NYU), Frank Pasquale (University of Maryland), Bernhard Rieder (University of Amsterdam), David Robinson (Yale University)
11:00 – 11:30 Break
11:30 – 12:30

MEDIA, PLATFORMS, AND USERS

moderated by Kate Crawford (Microsoft Research)

James Grimmelmann (University of Maryland), Christian Sandvig (University of Michigan), Joris van Hoboken (NYU)
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
1:30 – 2:30

COMSUMERS AND COMMERCE

moderated by Katherine Strandburg (NYU)

Julie Brill (Federal Trade Commission), Oren Bar-Gill (Harvard University), Natasha Schüll (MIT)
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 3:45

THE ALGORITHMIC FUTURE OF EDUCATION

moderated by Elana Zeide (NYU)

Mitchell Stevens (Stanford University), George Siemens (Athabasca University), Michael Hawes (US Department of Education)
3:45 – 4:00 Break
4:00 – 5:15

CLOSING PANEL

moderated by Malte Ziewitz (Cornell University)

Ed Felten (Princeton University), Eric Goldman (Santa Clara University), Susan Silbey(MIT), Karen Yeung (King’s College London)