Join the conversation as prominent researchers and AI leaders reflect on both progress and open challenges in developing Responsible AI technologies for society. This two-day virtual conference will feature keynotes and panels that share research-based insights and learnings, explore applications across disciplines and sectors, and invite audience questions.
Matt Lease, Professor, School of Information (UT)
We stand at a pivotal moment in the AI era—a technological revolution offering extraordinary opportunities while introducing profound risks. Over the past several years, organizations, including Microsoft, have invested deeply in Responsible AI, turning principles into practice at scale.
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This talk will share key lessons learned from building Responsible AI systems within Microsoft and explore how these approaches must evolve as AI agents emerge, bringing new challenges and opportunities for accountability, safety, and governance.
Ece Kamar, VP and Lab Director of AI Frontiers (Microsoft Research)
Ed Cutrell, Senior Principal Research Manager (Microsoft Research)
Troy DeFrates, Interim Dean, Design, Manufacturing, Construction and Applied Tech (Austin Community College)
Charles Purma, IT Manager (City of Austin)Â
Moderator: Sherri Greenberg, Assistant Dean for State and Local Government Engagement, LBJ School of Public Affairs (UT)
Andreea Bobu, Assistant Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics (MIT)
Reuth Mirsky, Assistant Professor, Computer Science (Tufts)
Nathan Tsoi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Texas Robotics (UT)Â
Moderator: Justin Hart, Assistant Professor of Practice, Computer Science (UT)Â
Christian Claudel, Associate Professor, Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (UT)
Mehdi Nourinejad, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering (York University)
Yuanchang Xie, Professor, Francis College of Engineering (University of Massachusetts Lowell)Â
Moderator: Junfeng Jiao, Associate Professor, School of Architecture (UT)
Sam Baker, Associate Professor, English (UT)
Maria De-Arteaga, Associate Professor, Data, Analytics, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence (ESADE)
Greg Durrett, Associate Professor, Computer Science (NYU)
Jessy Li, Associate Professor, Linguistics (UT)Â
Moderator: Matt Lease, Professor, School of Information (UT)Â
Gwen Shaffer, Professor, Journalism and Public Relations (Cal State Long Beach)
Emily Tucker, Executive Director, Center on Privacy & Technology (Georgetown Law)
Atlas Wang, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering (UT)Â
Moderator: Sharon Strover, Philip G. Warner Regents Professor, School of Journalism and Media (UT)Â
Andrew Smart, Senior Research Scientist, Responsible AI Impact Lab (Google Research)
S. Craig Watkins, Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial Professor, School of Journalism and Media
Executive Director, IC2Â Institute (UT)
Meg Young, Senior Researcher, Project Director of AIMLab (Data & Society Research Institute)
Moderator: Min Kyung Lee, Assistant Professor, School of Information (UT)
The Grand Challenge of Good Systems is to build human-AI partnerships that benefit society. The successes that Good Systems has enjoyed to date are directly tied to a wide range of partnerships that Good Systems has built. Unsurprisingly, as we look to find responsible ways for humans to collaborate with AI, we should begin by looking at how humans successfully collaborate with other humans.
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This talk will take a science-of-science approach to tell the story of the founding of Good Systems on two levels — the what and the how. It will explain the Define-Evaluate-Build research framework of Good Systems and how it has been achieved in practice through a parallel process of building effective communication, trust, and agency among researchers across the socio-technical spectrum.Â
Ken Fleischmann, Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Research, School of Information & Good Systems Chair (UT)
Luis Sentis is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a General Dynamics Endowed Faculty Fellow, and a member of UT Austin's Good Systems. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He was a La Caixa Foundation Fellow while at Stanford. He holds a B.S. degree in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Before Stanford, he worked in Silicon Valley as a Control Systems Engineer for clean room automation.
In Austin, he leads the Human Centered Robotics Laboratory, a laboratory focusing on control, task and motion planning, human factors, and experimentation with humanoid robots, mobile manipulation robots, exoskeletons and autonomous systems. He is also a founding member of the UT Robotics Portfolio Program and the UT Ethics of AI Portfolio Program. He was the UT Austin's Lead for DARPA's Robotics Challenge with NASA Johnson Space Center where he helped to design and test the Valkyrie humanoid robot. His research has been funded by ONR, NASA, NSF, ARL, AFC, DARPA and private companies.
He has been awarded the NASA Elite Team Award for his contributions to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Software Robotics and Simulation Division. He is also a founding member and innovation advisor for Apptronik Systems, a company focusing on human-centered robotic products.
