Ethics and Responsible Business Forum to focus on ChatGPT, artificial intelligence

California State University, Monterey Bay College of Business, College of Science, College of Health and Human Services, and College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Services will host the 21st annual Ethics and Responsible Business Forum on Wednesday, April 5, from 3 to 5 p.m. The free, interactive virtual forum is titled "Life and Work after ChatGPT: New Opportunities and Ethical Challenges from Generative AI.”

ChatGTP and other forms of generative artificial intelligence are expected to impact education, work, and society. The forum will address this potential influence by addressing questions such as: What changes can we expect? What are the ethical implications of this new technology?

In the past, the forum has followed a debate-style format featuring two speakers. Assistant Professor Caleb Bernacchio – who organized the event with Associate Professor Angeline Nariswari – said the subject this year seemed better addressed by a panel.

“It’s going to be more of an exploratory conversation, you could say,” Bernacchio said. “This new technology is going to be hugely influential. There are a lot of ethical questions. It’s really uncharted territory.”

The forum features three speakers: Irina Raicu, director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University; Alka Roy, founder of RI Labs and the Responsible Innovation Project; and Shira Eisenberg, an artificial intelligence engineer specializing in natural language processing. 

Each speaker will give a 10-minute talk, followed by a panel discussion, where they will be joined by CSUMB’s Linda MacDonald Glenn, business ethics lecturer, and Sam Ogden, assistant professor in the School of Computing and Design. CSUMB distinguished lecturer Jeff Froshman will moderate the forum. There will also be an audience question-and-answer segment. 

Bernacchio said he hopes participants will leave with a better understanding of the technology and the related ethical issues, and that the questions raised might help them decide what to consider as that technology becomes a bigger part of our lives. 

The public and members of the media are invited to attend. See the events webpage for details and registration.