POSTPONED: “The Future of Artificial Intelligence”

This event has been postponed. Please stay tuned for information about a rescheduled date.

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future invites you to attend an upcoming seminar, “The Future of Artificial Intelligence,” on Thursday, March 19 from 12:00 – 1:30 pm at the Pardee Center, 67 Bay State Road. Lunch will be provided beginning at 11:30 am.

The seminar will feature a panel discussion including James Bessen (Executive Director of the Technology & Policy Research Initiative at the BU School of Law), Azer Bestavros (BU Associate Provost for Computing & Data Sciences), and Inez von Weitershausen (Research Associate at the Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at the MIT Sloan School of Management).

This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below.

RSVP

[/pardee_rsvp]

Panelists

James Bessen

James Bessen, an economist, serves as Executive Director of the Technology & Policy Research Initiative at the Boston University School of Law. Bessen has done research on AI startups, on the impacts of automation, how information technology has contributed to rising industry concentration, whether patents promote innovation, and how technology affects jobs, skills, and wages. With Michael J. Meurer, Bessen wrote Patent Failure (Princeton 2008), highlighting the problems caused by poorly defined property rights. His research first documented the large economic damage caused by patent trolls. His book, Learning by Doing: The Real Connection Between Innovation, Wages, and Wealth (Yale 2015), looks at history to understand how new technologies affect wages and skills today. Bessen’s work has been widely cited in the press as well as by the US White House and Supreme Court, the European Parliament, and the Federal Trade Commission.

Azer Bestavros

Azer Bestavros is BU’s inaugural Associate Provost for Computing & Data Sciences and the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at BU. Prior to his appointment in 2019 to this leadership role, Azer was the Founding Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing, which was set up in 2010 to nucleate BU’s presence in computing and data sciences. Under his leadership, the Institute became a BU landmark at the crossroads of computational and data-driven research, engaging over 250 researchers from 38 departments, and securing over $100M in external research funding of incubated projects. Before the Hariri Institute, Azer chaired the BU Computer Science Department from 2000 to 2007. He has been a member of the BU faculty since 1991 after completing his PhD at Harvard University. Specializing in networking, distributed systems, and trustworthy computing research, Azer made seminal contributions to Internet protocols and web content distribution networks. His current projects focus on design, development, and real-world deployment of privacy-preserving analytics. As of 2019, funded by over $40M from government and industry sponsors, his research yielded 19 PhD theses, eight patents, two startups, and hundreds of refereed papers with over 20,000 citations. Azer has received numerous honors in recognition of distinguished teaching, research, and service, most notably the ACM Sigmetrics Inaugural Test of Time Award for 1996 work “whose impact is still felt 15 years after its initial publication” and the 2010 United Methodist Scholar/Teacher Award of the Year for “outstanding dedication and contributions to the learning arts and to the institution.” In 2017, he was named a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, the highest distinction bestowed upon senior faculty members at BU.

Inez von Weitershausen

Inez von Weitershausen is a Research Associate with the Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She also works MIT’s Task Force on the Work of the Future, where she studies how the adoption of new technologies will change future workplace organization, skill demands and the employment options available to large segments of the working population. Inez also explores topics involving comparative regulation and public policy as a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation at the London School of Economics. She holds a PhD in International Relations, a Master of Law & Business degree, and an MA in Politics, History and Area Studies.