A new research hub dedicated to AI ethics has been established at North Carolina State University. Project director and INS member Veljko Dubljevic received a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to establish an AI center to explore the ethical implications of the technology, focusing on imminent deployment of autonomous vehicles, large language models and social robots for eldercare.
The project, titled “Embedding AI in Society Ethically”, will establish the Center for AI in Society and Ethics (CASE) which aims to facilitate interdisciplinary research — across the humanities, computer science and engineering — along with graduate training experiences at NC State and across the UNC system. It also aims to serve North Carolinians and the U.S. and promote public and civic engagement by creating AI ethics-informed collaborations with research institutions and technology companies in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area. One such planned partnership is the agreed internship program with Red Hat, the global software company headquartered in downtown Raleigh, NC.
Building on the work of Dubljevic’s NeuroComputational Ethics Research Group (NCERG), CASE will serve as an interdisciplinary platform for research, graduate training, and public engagement. Planned initiatives include a graduate minor in AI ethics, an annual conference, special journal issues, and a postdoctoral fellow mentoring program. As one of five AI research hubs recently funded by the NEH, the center is poised to become a leading voice in ethical AI discourse. Visit the NCERG and CASE websites to learn more about the team, their work with the center, and upcoming opportunities, such as open trainee positions.