Responsible Computing, Ethics and Policy
Responsible computing is more than a field of study—it is a commitment to challenging the status quo and shaping technology for the public good.
We collaborate across computer science, social sciences, humanities, design, and policy to confront the complex challenges of today’s computing systems. Our shared goal: technology that is ethical, inclusive, and accountable to all.
Responsible computing examines a system’s societal impact, proactively addresses potential harms, and designs for accessibility and equity. Ideally, these considerations are embedded from the start, but systems must also be scrutinized and improved after deployment. A key framework for evaluating AI and ML systems, for example, is Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics (FATE).
In practice, this means ensuring job platforms presenting opportunities equitably, holding developers and organizations responsible for their technology’s outcomes, providing clear explanations of a system’s decision making (e.g., why someone may not have received a loan or mortgage), and following societal norms and values, like not using surveillance in ways that infringe on privacy. These are not optional ideals—they are necessary steps toward building technology that serves everyone, not just the privileged few.
Students who want to learn more about responsible and ethical computing might be interested in the following :
SCS Tool Improves Community Buy-In for Policy Decisions
NEWSCommunity policies, such as those for zoning or parking, are typically made at the top, which can leave community members feeling frustrated or left out of the process. Researchers at Carn...
CMU at CHI 2025
NEWSOur halls are abuzz with talk of “CHI” (pronounced “kai”), the nickname for the upcoming conference on computer human interaction (CHI)....
CMU Technologists Look to a More Inclusive Future
NEWSThe HCII's William Agnew and Jordan Taylor are just two of the CMU researchers working to ensure that the outputs of large language models represent the communities they reference.As artif...
CMU at FAccT 2024
NEWSResearchers from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and several other Carnegie Mellon University schools and disciplines contributed to more than 10 papers accepted to the 202...
Wikibench
PROJECTAI tools are increasingly deployed in community contexts. However, datasets used to evaluate AI are typically created by developers and annotators outside...
AI Should Be Kind and Fair, Young Black Girls Tell CMU Researchers
NEWSWhen asked about future uses for artificial intelligence, a group of fifth- and sixth-grade Black students attending a summer camp at Carnegie Mellon University had some unique ideas. One ...
CMU Researchers Use Comics To Explain AI-Supported Public Housing System to People Who Need It Most
NEWSAs artificial intelligence becomes more accessible and prevalent in everyday life, the humans who use it should still be central to its implementation, even if they don't have a technical ...
Studying and designing for human-AI collaborative work in real-world contexts
PROJECTAcross a range of real-world contexts, we are studying how AI is currently being designed and used to augment or transform worker practices. Moving beyond...
Advancing Fairness in AI with Human-Algorithm Collaborations
PROJECTArtificial intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly used to assist humans in making high-stakes decisions, such as online information curation, resume s...
Incorporating and Balancing Stakeholder Values in Algorithm Design
PROJECTThis project will create a general method for value-sensitive algorithm design and develop tools and techniques to help incorporate the tacit values of st...