Tech Talks @ UvH: The Ethics of Creating Digital Content by Matthew Dennis

Join us for the first session in a series of public lectures on technology, society and ethics at the UvH on 24th of October (15.30-17.00)

What are Tech Talks @ UvH?

Rapid changes to our technological landscape have challenged the human and planetary condition. Algorithms, databases, artificial intelligence, and other digital infrastructures animate the very basis of contemporary life and impact the near future. Recent research around technology ranges from utopic optimism to threatening dangers, and a call for a pause. Making sense of the intertwined realm of technology requires reassessing some of the most fundamental questions of human endeavour. Tech Talks @ UvH welcomes fresh, multi-disciplinary perspectives into this enquiry. What does it mean to live meaningfully with technology? How (if at all) can technology co-create opportunities for well-being? How do we imagine a just and caring society with these technological advances?

We are excited to welcome Matthew J. Dennis for our first talk on the Ethics of Creating Digital Content. Dr. Dennis is Assistant Professor in Ethics of Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology and a senior researcher in the project Ethics of Scocially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT).

Programme

15:30 – 16:30 Tech Talk by Matthew Dennis
16:30 – 17:00 Q&A and discussion
17:00 Drinks

Location

The event takes place on the 24th of October 2024, from 15.30-17.00, at the Universiteit voor Humanistiek, Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, 3512 HD, Utrecht, in room 0.14.

Abstract: The Ethics of Creating Digital Content

Creating digital content, such as posting a selfie or sharing a personal update, generates new ethical challenges for a wide range of stakeholders. Until recently, Human content creators, content consumers, and social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch) were the main stakeholders in the digital content ecosystem, but today content-creating machines (bots, virtual influencers) play an increasingly powerful role. Machines can masquerade as humans, can manipulate and microtarget content consumers, can amplify or supress content, etc. This new situation is fundamentally changing how the stakeholders in the digital content ecosystem relate to one another. In this presentation I will develop a new ethical framework to show how human and machine content creators are interconnected in the digital content ecosystem, one which powerfully affects all other stakeholders, yet is currently underestimated. I will show how ethical conflicts are generated when the interests of stakeholders comprising this ecosystem are misaligned.

Registration

Please register for the seminar below. A limited number of seats will be available, so please register on time to secure a spot. If you have further questions, please contact Neha Miglani at N.Miglani@uvh.nl or Adrienne de Ruiter at A.deRuiter@uvh.nl.

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Contact person	Adriënne de Ruiter (a.deruiter@uvh.nl); Neha Miglani (N.Miglani@uvh.nl)
Location	University for Humanistic Studies, Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, Utrecht
Date	24-10-2024
Accessibility for the disabled	Yes, but please contact the organization in advance.