The discussion surrounding AI development is a subject undergoing intense study. Humanity is developing a growing sense with technological advances, a parallel structure of ethical rules and guidelines is needed to provide a structure. Politicians in Germany call for an “ethical development of AI, based on European values”, yet we are only at the start of the discussions of what this entails. Meanwhile, AI developers in the ecosystem are looking for concrete guidance regarding what “ethical development of tech” entails

With those ideas in mind and certain of the need for more open discussions about this topic, Meetup.ai, Machine Learners in Health and Google, joined forces to organize an event. We will explore, together with experts and a diverse audience, the questions around ethics in concrete terms to assist in providing guidance.

Schedule for the Evening

18:00-18:30: Registration

18:30-18:55: Talk by Dr. Vince Madai, Senior Medical AI Researcher

18:55-19:20: Talk by Jen Gennai, Head of Responsible Innovation at Google

19:20-19:40: Break

19:40-20:50: Panel “How to make responsible progress in AI” with Jen Gennai, Daniel Strech, Chris Ward, Elena Poughia and Dorothée Döpfer, moderated by Nicholas Borsotto.

20:50-22:00: Networking

Our Speakers & Panelists

Vince Madai is a senior medical AI researcher at Charité Berlin with an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Medical Neuroscience focusing on acute stroke treatment and is the CSO of ai4medicine, an AI startup focusing on stroke prevention. He also holds an M.A. in Medical Ethics and is an expert in the ethics of AI and especially how businesses need to prepare for future AI ethics guidelines and challenges.

Jen Gennai leads the Responsible Innovation team in Google which is responsible for operationalizing Google’s AI Principles. Her team works with product, engineering and leverages a multidisciplinary group of experts in ethics, human rights, user research, behavioral analysis, racial justice, and gender equity to validate that products and outputs align with our AI Principles’ obligations around fairness, privacy, safety, societal benefit and more. Before she co-authored the AI Principles and founded the Responsible Innovation team, Jen had been working on machine learning fairness in Google for almost four years, focusing on user impact and adversarial testing.

Chris Ward is a blogger who loves to explain cool tech to the world. After 15 years as a developer, Chris realized that his skills lie in helping others understand technical subjects and advocating for developer'ss role in creating ethical technology. He achieves this through technical writing, blogging and educating people through presentations and workshops. Chris also has crazy projects in progress and will speak to anyone who listens.

Daniel Strech is a bioethicist and full professor at Charité – University Hospital Berlin and chairs a research group on “Translational Bioethics” at the QUEST-Center, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH). Since 2006, he worked full-time in the fields of research ethics and health policy analysis at the Universities of Tuebingen, Zurich, and at Hannover Medical School. His work focuses on practice-oriented challenges in risk-benefit assessment, informed consent, and other areas of decision making in research and health care. He is a member of several national and international advisory boards for data-intensive research projects such as the German “MII – Medical Informatics Initiative”, the European “BD4BO - Big Data for Better Outcomes program” and “DigitalHealthEurope”, or the WHO guideline “Ethics of Public Health Surveillance”

Dorothée Döpfer is the Program Manager for the Digital Health Accelerator Program at Berlin Institute of Health, where she helps the Teams with advice on healthcare systems, regulatory, reimbursement and competitor analysis. She is supporting other programs such as EIT Health, GALS, and the HUB Program. Besides, she is responsible for organizing the monthly BIH Digital Health Forum. Previously, she has worked in the field of Science Management and Entrepreneurship at the Leibniz‐Institute for Crystal Growth, a 3D printing startup as well as Stiftung Charité and Freie Universität Berlin.

Elena Poughia is a creative and practical purpose-driven professional, with an entrepreneurial mindset and a demonstrated experience of working in art, tech, and business in the last decade. She has worked for established galleries and pioneering institutions co-founded an events company and an art publication before founding Data Natives. She is particularly committed to supporting womxn and marginalized communities by helping them become established in tech professions. She is an analytical Thinker, Visionary, Speaker, Ecosystem Builder & Connector, enabling people to lead themselves. She has a multidisciplinary background with studies in Economics, Art History and Modern and Contemporary Art from British Universities.

Nicholas Borsotto is an economist focused on the social impact of emerging technologies, who has in past written and given talks about both the ethical and social impact of AI. He has worked together with Startup Bootcamp, Hacking Health and GTC, to advise and support AI Startups and NGOs and broaden the discussion about ethics in tech. Today he is the founder of Archgriffin Consulting, an advisory firm focused on data-centric companies, and the Berlin Lead for Meetup.ai, a fast-community for discussing the practical side of AI.

Ethics in Tech: a Practical Discussion about AI