Category: Sector: Labour

Hard Questions: Labour

  • Call for Book Chapters: OUR AI PROBLEMS

    Call for Book Chapters: OUR AI PROBLEMS

    Call for Book Chapters: Our AI Problems (Edited Volume)

    We believe that there are no easy answers when it comes to artificial intelligence and society. Across jurisdictions and decision-making bodies, those who develop or enforce regulations are confronted with difficult questions. These challenges arise for many reasons: the issues are often embedded in complex sociotechnical systems, lack straightforward solutions, or involve tensions between competing values and needs.

    The editors hold that AI can be of great service for humanity. At the same time, current regulatory frameworks lag far behind what is needed to ensure just, safe, and equitable access and outcomes. 

    Policymakers and subject-matter specialists are increasingly converging on a shared set of especially challenging issues.  Society is learning to join in the conversations. Accordingly, the proposed volume is envisioned as addressing the following areas: Economics and Power; Democracy and Trust; Risks Large and Small; Building Bridges and Inclusion; Media and Art; Environment and Health; Justice, Security, and Defense.

    If you are interested in contributing, we would be delighted to hear from you. If you know colleagues or collaborators who might wish to participate, please feel free to share this call with them as well.

    Deadline for chapter abstracts (250–300 words): 15 January 2026
    Deadline for chapter draft submission (8000–10,000 words; US English; APA style): 31 March 2026
    Deadline for final revisions: 15 May 2026

    Edited by Tammy Mackenzie, Ashley Elizabeth Muller, and Branislav Radeljić

    For more info about the editors, please see: Fellows
    Submissions and questions: Contact Branislav Radeljić, Ph.D., Director of Research.

  • Towards regulating AI : A natural, labour and capital resources perspective

    Towards regulating AI : A natural, labour and capital resources perspective

    Policymakers who are looking at artificial intelligence (AI) applications are thinking about what we as a society want to achieve and what we need to protect, yet it is not commonly known that AI apps require intensive natural resources, labour and capital.

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  • Ceiba Law Firm Annual Retreat

    Ceiba Law Firm Annual Retreat

    We were pleased to be of service to Ceiba Law for their annual retreat this year. Our director Tammy Mackenzie joined the firm partners and associates to discuss the changes and opportunities of AI for lawyers in cybersecurity and corporate law. A huge shout out to partners Vanessa Henri, Elodie Meyer and Shawn Ford for an invigorating retreat and inspiring firm ethos. A law firm purpose built for the 21st century.

    For more information on Ceiba Law, see https://ceiba.law/

  • Evaluating Online AI Detection Tools: An Empirical Study Using Microsoft Copilot-Generated Content

    Evaluating Online AI Detection Tools: An Empirical Study Using Microsoft Copilot-Generated Content

    Our findings reveal significant inconsistencies and limitations in AI detection tools, with many failing to accurately identify Copilotauthored text. Examining eight freely available online AI detection tools using text samples produced by Microsoft Copilot, we assess their accuracy and consistency. We feed a short sentence and a small paragraph and note the estimate of these tools. Our results suggest that educators should not rely on these tools to check for AI use.

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  • OECD Gender Equality in Technology Governance

    OECD Gender Equality in Technology Governance

    Director Mackenzie represented the Aula Fellowship and the AI context in conversations at this global conference for equity. We stand together, or we fall.

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  • Investigating Transition Phases: An Autoethnographic Study of International Women of Color Engineering Educators in the US

    Investigating Transition Phases: An Autoethnographic Study of International Women of Color Engineering Educators in the US

    The study aims to explore the transitions experienced by international Women of Color (IWoC) engineers in the US as they navigate their academic and professional lives. Motivated by the lack of research on IWoC’s experiences, specifically around transition points of their lives, four international Women of Color participated in this qualitative auto-ethnographic deep-dive. All four researchers have attended college in the United States for their high educational degrees focused on education/engineering education and are currently involved in engineering education scholarship work.

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  • Outsiders: Pathways and Perspectives from Engineering Education PhDs Outside Academia

    Outsiders: Pathways and Perspectives from Engineering Education PhDs Outside Academia

    This article presents a critical exploration and recommendation based on the lived experiences of PhD graduates in Engineering Education who have ventured into non-academic career paths. The work is rooted in an auto-ethnographic research approach, and the report aims to mimic a live virtual panel. It seeks to elucidate the experiences and challenges faced by PhD graduates who diverged from traditional academic roles to pursue careers in industry, entrepreneurship, consulting, and pre-college leadership. These narratives reveal a complex landscape of motivations, perceived hierarchical barriers, and under-recognition within academic and non-academic sectors, highlighting a divide between industry and academia. The paper delves into the unique challenges faced by non-academic engineering educators, such as confronting a culture that often questions their value outside traditional faculty roles and the overarching perception that non-research roles are less significant. Despite these challenges, the authors argue for the vital role these professionals play in bridging the gap between research, instruction, and practical application in engineering education. They emphasize the importance of ASEE or similar professional societies in recognizing and leveraging the diverse contributions of non-academic engineering educators to foster a more inclusive and supportive community. Key takeaways and recommendations include the necessity for ASEE and similar bodies to shift normative expectations, create inclusive and equitable environments, and actively value diverse career trajectories. The paper calls for actionable strategies to build more inclusive professional communities, create safe spaces for discussing career diversity, and establish stronger connections between current students and diverse alums. The overarching goal is to cultivate an environment where all forms of contribution to engineering education are valued, encouraging a broader spectrum of career considerations among graduates and professionals. The authors seek not only to share insights but also to galvanize a nascent community of like-minded engineering educators aspiring or working outside the traditional academic sphere.

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  • Travailleurs du savoir, l’IA changera votre quotidien

    Travailleurs du savoir, l’IA changera votre quotidien

    Les professionnels et les travailleurs du savoir, en particulier ceux qui n’ont pas encore utilisé l’intelligence artificielle (IA), peuvent être enclins à avoir de fausses idées qui masquent l’ampleur des perturbations à venir.

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  • Unveiling AI Concerns for Sub-Saharan Africa and its Vulnerable Groups

    Unveiling AI Concerns for Sub-Saharan Africa and its Vulnerable Groups

    In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), artificial intelligence is still in its early stages of adoption. To ensure that the already existing class imbalance in SSA communities does not hinder the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, such as data security, safety, and equitable access to AI technologies, acceptable reliability measures must be put in place (as policies). This paper identifies some of the vulnerabilities in AI and adds a voice to the risks and ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI and its impact on SSA and its vulnerable groups. Our systematic literature review of related research between January 2014 and June 2024 shows the current state of AI adoption in SSA and the socio-political challenges that impact its development, revealing key concerns in data Governance, safety privacy, educational and skill gaps, socioeconomic impacts, and stakeholder influence on AI adoption in SSA. We propose a framework for designing data governance policies for the inclusive use of AI in SSA.

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  • Several presentations, including “Taking the Lead in SWE: An Asian Perspective.”

    Several presentations, including “Taking the Lead in SWE: An Asian Perspective.”

    Dr. Bhaduri will be presenting at the Society of Women Engineers, with whom she is a Senator. Several events are online for interested persons. Dr. Bhaduri is an accomplished technologist and educator, as well as being excellent speaker and is appreciated for her wit, her precision, and her kindness.

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  • Excellence, Belonging, and the American Dream: An Auto-ethnography on Being International in Engineering

    Excellence, Belonging, and the American Dream: An Auto-ethnography on Being International in Engineering

    This research paper uses an auto-ethnographic approach to highlight experiences of women of color who are international in U.S. engineering workforce and classrooms. Three preliminary themes are highlighted in this paper. The first is the theme related to the notion of Excellence, and how the definitions of success for immigrating or international engineers may be tied to maintaining visa status. The second theme centers around the lack of Sense of Belonging expressed by participant-authors. The final theme was around Chasing the American Dream and the resultant sacrifices. We hope this paper not only provides an overview of some of the unique challenges faced by international women of color, but also drives more interest in better understanding this oft-overlooked group in engineering.

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  • Using Science to Support and Develop Employees in the Tech Workforce—An Opportunity for Multidisciplinary Pursuits in Engineering Education

    Using Science to Support and Develop Employees in the Tech Workforce—An Opportunity for Multidisciplinary Pursuits in Engineering Education

    The majority of students who choose to major in engineering do so to become a part of the community of practice of professional engineers (Johri & Olds, 2011), meaning that they want to have adequate exposure to what a career as a professional engineer could potentially be as part of their college experience. However, according to Jonassen (2014), engineering graduates are not well trained to contribute to the workplace due to the complexities associated with engineering work. Stevens, Johri, and O’Connor (2014) described engineering work as that which involves complexity, ambiguity, and contradictions. Since developing the skills for innovation involves analysis of complex, ambiguous, ill-defined, real-world problems (Daly, Mosyjowski, & Seifert, 2014; Newell, 2010), students must have an opportunity to, at the very least, be exposed to multidisciplinary teams. This emphasis on the need for exposure to multi-disciplinary problem solving holds true not only for undergraduate engineers in training, but also for graduate students focused on engineering education.

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