Brown CS News

In his newly-released third book, The Alignment Problem, Brown CS alum Brian Christian returns to the intersection of computer science with human ethics and thought. Already winning praise from experts such as Cathy O'Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction, it focuses on the consequences of allowing machine learning systems an increasing power to …

Last week, Professor Seny Kamara of Brown CS testified at a Congressional hearing ("Banking on Your Data: The Role of Big Data in Financial Services"), explaining that cryptography solutions to improve consumer financial health can be implemented without endangering privacy. Invited by the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Task Force on Financial Technology, Seny was …

Computer science that benefits humanity, science that’s grounded in an awareness of its societal impact, has long been a Brown CS hallmark. Today, more than forty years after the founding of the department, global concern about the ethical and societal issues surrounding computing is greater than ever. This semester brings …

by Ajula Van Ness-OtunnuOn April 30, 2019, Brown CS Professor Seny Kamara was announced as a winner of The Responsible Computer Science Challenge from Omidyar Network, Mozilla, Schmidt Futures, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Seny worked in collaboration with colleagues Suresh Venkatasubramanian (University of Utah) and Sorelle A. Friedler (Haverford College) to “integrate ethics and responsibility …

Since the earliest days of Brown, our students have been eager to combine the pursuit of societal change with rigorous academic study, then use what they’ve learned to benefit humankind at large. In today’s world, where computation has become ubiquitous, this obligation takes on new importance. Users of social media, …