Nitin Sawhney, Professor of Practice, Department of Computer Science, Aalto University School of Science
– 5 January 2023
Talk summary: The public sector is increasingly embracing algorithmic decision-making and data-centric infrastructures to improve digital services in areas such as education, healthcare, and urban mobility. Some artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems are being used by governments for biometric surveillance, criminal justice, and other forms of citizen monitoring, which pose higher risks for abuse and unfair incrimination if they are not made easily transparent, accountable, or their legitimate use challenged by civil society. With regulations like the AI Act and the AI Liability Directive emerging in the EU, organisations must comply with complex ethical and regulatory frameworks.
In their research, Nitin Sawhney’s group is exploring novel AI-based innovations, regulations, and practices, particularly the role of integrative software frameworks (MLOps and RegOps) and regulatory AI sandboxes, to facilitate experimentation, co-learning, and responsible deployment throughout the AI lifecycle. They are also examining wide-ranging public discourses around AI, using a mix of qualitative methods and natural language processing (NLP), both among actors who influence its development and the public affected by it. Linguistic devices such as metaphors, metonymy, and personification reveal how we conceptualize, narrate, contest, or attribute agency to AI systems. Sawhney’s research can demonstrate how language affects attitudes, influences practices and policies, and shapes future imaginaries around AI. How must we reframe such narratives while fostering greater human responsibility and civic agency in AI systems, to make them more trustworthy, inclusive, and accountable in the future? Sawhney’s talk drew on critical transdisciplinary perspectives and applied research in the Finnish and European contexts.
Speaker bio: Nitin Sawhney leads the CRAI-CIS (CRitical AI and Crisis Interrogatives) research group in the Department of Computer Science at Aalto University. Working on human computer interaction (HCI), responsible AI, and participatory design research, he examines the critical role of technology, civic agency, and social justice in society and crisis contexts. Sawhney has previously conducted research in speech/audio interaction, wearable computing, distributed open-source collaboration, civic/participatory media at the MIT Media Lab and The New School. At Aalto University, he is the Principal Investigator for an Academy of Finland research project on Reconstructing Crisis Narratives for Trustworthy Communication and Cooperative Agency, jointly conducted with the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
In 2022, he received grant awards for research projects on Civic Agency in AI? Democratizing Algorithmic Services in the City (CAAI) and Designing Inclusive & Trustworthy Digital Public Services for Migrants in Finland (Trust-M). Sawhney is a member of the research program on AI and Society at the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI). At Aalto University, he helped establish the research areas on Digital Ethics, Society and Policy (Digital ESP) and Human-Computer Interaction and Design (HCID). His work has been published in journals including IEEE Multimedia, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Planning Practice & Research, AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication, and Digital Creativity. He is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Child Computer Interaction.
[Talk organised in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science and Automation]