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While every fall brings about new things, there are a few notable changes this semester at IDSS. For starters, I am serving as interim director for this academic year, which means I have the difficult job of filling founding director Munther Dahleh's shoes.
I am pleased to share that Dean Eckles, an IDSS faculty member in the MIT Sloan School of Management, has been appointed as an IDSS Associate Director. Dean's work on social networks, social media, and the spread of misinformation positions him at the intersection of big data, computing technology, human behavior, institutional policy, and critical societal challenges — in other words, right in the IDSS wheelhouse.
This year, IDSS is also fortunate to have MLK Visiting Scholar Tawanna Dillahunt with us. Tawanna's research focuses on equitable and inclusive computing; I encourage you to hear more about it at her upcoming talk!
Many IDSS faculty members have projects funded by MIT seed grants to explore the social implications of generative AI, including one led by researchers with the Initiative on Combatting Systemic Racism. The issue of who will benefit from AI was recently discussed at the Starr Forum, where it was noted that the coming years will bring about transformative technology changes — and with them, many important decisions. I'm excited to see this research develop, and to see what role IDSS and its community play in informing those decisions!
Best wishes for a fruitful fall,
Noelle Selin, Interim Director
Professor, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) and
Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS)
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