Call for Applications: Scotiabank Postdoctoral Fellowship on AI and Inclusion, University of Ottowa

Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship

Start date: Flexible (but ideally September 1, 2020)

Duration: One-year fellowship (with possibility of renewal)

Salary range: $45,000, plus benefits

Fellowship Description

We are seeking a skilled and enthusiastic Postdoctoral Fellow to pursue an innovative research program focused on reimagining how to design ethical and inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.

The successful candidate will be supervised throughout the postdoctoral fellowship by leading technology law, ethics and policy scholars at the University of Ottawa AI + Society Initiative, notably from The eQuality Project and the Canadian Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Ethical Design Lab (CRAiEDL).

AI promises important benefits, but unchecked AI development surfaces significant challenges, such as creating uncertainty surrounding the future of work, redistributing various risks and benefits in society in discriminatory ways, or shifting power to new structures that lie outside of the control of existing and understood governance and accountability frameworks.

Applicants are encouraged to propose creative ideas for a postdoctoral fellowship, emphasizing how they plan to contribute to new knowledge in developing effective inclusive and participatory ethical design/engineering frameworks for AI systems that avoid the disturbing risk of amplifying global digital injustices through AI for marginalized populations (women, youth, seniors, Indigenous People, LGBTQIA+, racialized people, people with disabilities, and linguistic minorities—and those marginalized by intersecting oppressions such as racism, sexism, and homophobia.)

We are particularly interested in proposals aligning with the following topics:

• Developing Ethical AI Engineering Requirements: This research will develop and validate effective methodologies, frameworks and tools for ethical AI requirements engineering practices. It will fill the critical gap between identifying broad ethical principles and effectively translating those principles into concrete engineering and design requirements for AI, implementing those requirements into actual AI systems, and validating their implementation.
• Youth and AI: The research would look at young people’s AI literacy, how digital communications and associated corporate structures are exposing them to discriminatory impacts from AI and algorithmic sorting, and develop resources and policy frameworks to help youth and their supporting adults to better navigate a digital environment increasingly dominated by AI.
• AI and Justice: The research would undertake to develop a robust framework for assessing whether and, if so, how AI can be appropriately used to automate parts of bail, sentencing and parole decisions in the criminal justice system, notably looking at how human rights codes and other legal tools can be used to leverage more diversity and inclusion in AI systems and to remedy discriminatory practices and outcomes.

The postdoctoral fellowship will result in a better understanding of the current AI context and challenges. Research outputs (e.g. policy recommendations and framework proposals) will be disseminated through a series of publications, white papers and other knowledge mobilization activities. The postdoctoral fellowship will focus on research dissemination and knowledge translation both within and outside the academy, and with public and private sector actors.

The successful candidate will be registered as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa and will enjoy all associated privileges. This individual will have experience conducting interdisciplinary research and a strong background in Human Rights, AI Ethics, or AI Policy or Governance (or a closely related field). In addition, training in a related technology field, such as computer science or engineering may be beneficial (though not necessary).

The Scotiabank Postdoctoral Fellowship on AI and Inclusion will support an innovative research program focused on reimagining how to design ethical and inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.