PIT-UN Summit Voices

Our speakers share why they are excited to attend this year’s Summit, and what you can expect to learn during our two days of in-depth keynotes, panels and the PIT-UN Summit Live! Studio. See the agenda.

Join us Virtually

The PIT-UN Summit Live! Studio takes you behind the scenes of this marquee annual event, with exclusive insights from PIT-UN members and industry experts, to our two days of in-depth keynotes and plenaries. Catch interviews, performances and program launches alongside our studio hosts, AI Ethicist Renée Cummings and PIT-UN’s Kip Dooley.

November 7 Speaker Preview

Speaking: PIT & Democracy | 1:00 pm PST

Margaret Hu

Director, Digital Democracy Lab at William & Mary Law School

The PIT-UN Summit brings together thought leaders who care deeply about justice, and how best to address the impact of Al and emerging technologies. This event provides a space to not only contemplate the consequences of technology on society, but also to imagine collaborative research and action that aims to ensure technological innovation is consistent with our democratic principles.

Additional Reading: The Execu tive Order & Academia’s Role in the Future of AI

Speaking: How PIT Principles Can Shape the Future of Artificial Intelligence and Fireside Chat: Investing in the Future of Public Interest Technology

Charlton McIlwain

Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Pathways & Public Interest Technology, New York University

The upcoming PIT-UN Summit will be an amazing opportunity to mobilize the very best thought leadership about how to put equity and justice at the center of technology development across the public and private sectors and our academic institutions.

I am excited about the potential for us all to plot, plan and strategize together about how to marshal the financial and social capital needed to empower a new generation of technologists who can think and build new tools that truly serve the interests of those who have not evenly benefitted from computing technology.

Additional Reading: PIT Scholars Mobilize to Inform National Science Foundation Roadmap

November 8 Speaker Preview

Speaking: Fireside Chat: Investing in the Future of Public Interest Technology | 2:00 pm PST

Darren Walker

President, the Ford Foundation

I am excited to speak at the 2024 PIT-UN Summit because this is a critical year for technology and democracy around the world. The Summit is an essential platform for leaders in academia, philanthropy, the private sector and public sector to come together to discuss how far the field of public interest technology has come, and how much farther we must go together to ensure technology advances and does not undermine justice.

One of the projects that gives me hope for a technological future that serves all communities is the National Science Foundation Responsible Design, Development and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT) program. ReDDDoT is an initiative that invests in the creation of technologies that promote the public’s well-being and mitigate potential harms, particularly in AI, biotech and climate and disaster prevention tech. The program seeks to ensure that ethical, legal, community, and societal considerations are embedded in the life-cycle of technology’s creation and use.

I am particularly excited about ReDDDoT because it is a collaborative effort between government, philanthropy, and academia. Partnering across sectors is key to ensure technology is developed and used in a way that benefits all.

Collaboration is indeed core to public interest technology, as evidenced by ReDDDoT and all that’s been accomplished by the PIT University Network.

Additional Reading: Executive Branch Announces $100M in New Funding for Public Interest Technology

Speaking: PIT & Law

Eduardo Gonzalez

Program Officer, Civil Justice at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Without deliberate discourse and consideration of the disproportionate impact technology like AI, LLMs, and other automation has on people struggling to navigate American legal systems, we risk overregulating consumer use in favor of preserving corporate interest. Through convenings of thought leaders, scholars, and frontline experts like the PIT-UN Summit, we have a chance to broaden our taxonomy of opportunity. Each attendee at a Summit like this gives voice to the under resourced and disinvested communities with the highest needs. It’s an honor to take part in this gathering and share my perspective on achieving the public good. I look forward to sharing how courts, legal aid, and nonprofit advocates and leaders are shifting the narrative on justice, and placing the tools people need in their hands.

As science, experts, and institutions rebuild public trust, it is imperative that all of our approaches understand the human cost of delaying innovation, all while balancing the risks of amplifying or automating inequalities. This is why as public interest professionals, we must partner and collaborate to ensure the system actors we work with understand the stakes involved in this practice.

Additional Reading: Making Justice Accessible: Legal Services for the 21st Century

Speaking: Keynote Panel: Public Interest Technology Business Models | 1:00 pm PST

Sylvester Johnson

CEO/Co-Founder, Corporation for Public Interest Technology

This 2024 PIT-UN summit presents an extraordinary opportunity for social justice tech stakeholders to consider the role of entrepreneurship in advancing the mission of PIT. As co-founder of a social justice tech startup, I’m especially excited about this development.

Additional Reading: 5 Keys to Institutionalizing PIT

Speaking: MSI/HSI/HBCU Collaborations & PIT | 9:00 am PST

David Lee

Assistant Professor of Computational Media, UC Santa Cruz

I am looking forward to attending and speaking at the PIT-UN Summit because it is a diverse, interdisciplinary community of people with a shared passion for bringing technological innovation to those whose needs are often unmet by private sector driven innovation. It is a community that approaches technology with critical thought, humility, and nuance.

As an educator passionate about helping students grow to their full potential and contribution to society, and a researcher involved in the design of human-AI ecosystems for education, work, and communities (see this Kraw Lecture), I am both hopeful and concerned about recent advances in large language models (LLMs). While they have brought new energy and possibilities to edtech, realizing a flourishing future of education and work is complex, and naive solutions can just as easily result in negative consequences for those with the greatest needs.

This is why I am so excited about the values and strengths that PIT-UN brings around community engagement, systems-level thinking, and equity, all of which will be critical to ensure the responsible use of these innovations in society.

Additional Reading: David Lee appointed inaugural Director of Research Pathways for Baskin Engineering

Speaking: Building Tomorrow’s PIT Workforce | 8:15 am PST

Albert Gehami

Privacy Officer, City of San José

Universities and their partners are the backbone of innovation. I am excited to join the PIT-UN Summit to share ideas for the future of responsible and effective technology that impacts everyone.

Additional Reading: San Jose, Calif., forms nationwide government AI coalition