Equipping Ethical Leaders

There’s little question that technology is rapidly changing the way people interact with the world around them — and the way that industries can interact with people. Advances in artificial intelligence prompt questions about ethical guardrails around the explosive opportunities provided. As a Christian research university, Baylor is uniquely positioned to speak into this area’s ethical questions in both elite research and the formation of students who will someday support human flourishing amidst these changes.

Faculty in the STEM fields, humanities and more are already focused on these questions in a variety of initiatives.

Baylor Ethics Initiative

“We aim to bring forward the idea that ethics is always a part of what we do as academics, but also as people who are equipping others for the future,” Devan Stahl, Ph.D., assistant professor of bioethics in the department of religion, said of the Baylor Ethics Initiative (BEI), a community of scholars who convene with a purposeful mindset to consider ethics within elite research and scholarship. “We always want Baylor to be a place where ethics saturates all our decisions at the highest levels.”

Stahl, a nationally recognized expert in bioethics research, convenes the BEI’s Bioethics Research Group, one of four groups that gathers interdisciplinary faculty to consider trans-disciplinary ethical issues. In her own work, she’s researched bioenhancement technologies that raise ethical questions surrounding their ability to enhance human functioning beyond simple questions of health or disability. 

Another group, the AI and Data Ethics Group, promotes AI and data research with a focus on privacy, fairness and ethical responsibility. Neil Messer, Ph.D., professor of theological bioethics in the department of religion, co-convenes the group with Pablo Rivas, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science, bridging the humanities and STEM fields. 

Messer’s latest research examines ethical questions surrounding neurotechnologies and their ability to manipulate human behavior. It’s a field Messer describes as “very secular,” and he established the Society of Christian Ethics, which aims to draw more theologians and Christian researchers into discussions around ethical technological decisions and regulations that will govern its growth.

Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance

Rivas also is the site director for the Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance (CRAIG) at Baylor, the only National Science Foundation-funded research center focused exclusively on responsible AI. Within CRAIG, Rivas and Baylor colleagues have advanced research in machine learning and algorithm biases, and his own further research has trained law enforcement to use consumer websites to identify signs of human trafficking. In partnership with Ohio State University, Rutgers University and Northeastern University, CRAIG provides Baylor a seat at the table to discuss ethical questions surrounding AI.

“I think the world needs a Baylor who cares about responsible use of technology and works collaboratively to address this,” Rivas said. “As I work with other faculty, it helps that we have shared values and that the institution backs us up in issues like social justice, privacy or serving people who don’t have the means or understanding to defend themselves amidst growing technologies.”

Student Formation

Just as CRAIG and the Baylor Ethics Initiative convene researchers from different disciplines to apply their combined expertise for multidisciplinary solutions, still other initiatives on campus are purposeful about gathering this research for teaching and instruction to students who will be the next generation of professionals.

One example comes from Baylor medical humanities, which trains future medical practitioners in multidisciplinary courses on the role of Christian spirituality in healthcare. Medical humanities courses feature top faculty who integrate elite research and scholarship from humanities disciplines alongside STEM research and principles. Their goal is to form practitioners who see the whole person when they treat others.

“We’ve got to train people who can put all these pieces together. Collaboration is an important principle,” Lauren Barron, B.A. ’88, M.D., the Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Selma DeBakey and Lois DeBakey Chair for Medical Humanities, said. “I find it hard to swallow when people say medicine is a business. The example of Christ is serving the least of these, and we need professionals who have an orientation of service and are capable of integrating ethics in practice.”