Vance Ricks

I'm a Teaching Prof of Philosophy and Computer Science at Northeastern University, and co-editor of the Mozilla Responsible Computing Playbook

Topics of interest, research, and teaching include philosophy of #friendship; #algorithmic accountability; tech #resisters and #refusers; #JSMill

Super #Randonneur who decided that sleep matters more

2025-04-06

Please spread the word. Fantastic opportunity for faculty at MSI institutions looking to develop responsible computing programs or curricula at their own institutions. Come hang out in Boston with us in July! Deadline is rolling, with a few spots still available.

cssh.northeastern.edu/ethics/2

2025-01-24

3rd annual TeχnēCON, an interdisciplinary conference on research and teaching on the ethics of technology:

computing.mit.edu/cross-cuttin

2024-11-07

Northeastern University has two open-rank, tenure-track faculty positions in AI governance -- emphasis on public policy dimensions, ethical, legal, and societal implications, and regulations of AI and related technologies!

More info here: northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs

Vance Ricks boosted:
2023-12-22

As Hyperloop One shuts down, we need to remember that the Hyperloop was never meant to be built.

Elon Musk’s goal was never to transform transportation for the masses, but to stop or delay high-speed rail from reaching North America. Sadly, he succeeded — and we all lost as a result. While the rest of the world moved forward, the US remains stuck in the past.

disconnect.blog/p/the-hyperloo

#tech #transport #transportation #train #hyperloop #elonmusk

Vance Ricks boosted:

The last Weekly Reckoning of the year, feat. whale conversations! And also my dilemma over my jet lag app. And a few other things, like children's privacy and deepfake disinformation in Bangladesh.
ethicalreckoner.substack.com/p

2023-12-17

@mekkaokereke Average, or median?

2023-12-16

Summer 2024 NEH Summer Institute: Native American, Indigenous, and Land-Based Social and Political Philosophy

neh.gov/programinstitutefellow

Designed to give philosophy teachers the tools to approach, and successfully integrate in their general undergraduate courses, contemporary issues in Native American, Indigenous and Land-Based social and political philosophy.

Vance Ricks boosted:
Deb Chachradebcha
2023-12-16

Today is the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. I only learned *this year* that the Great Bengali Famine of 1770 was a precipitating factor in the protest, and so I collaborated with my historian colleague, Dr. Robert Martello, to share the globe-spanning story of colonialism and corporate power that we think should be much more widely known.

tinyletter.com/metafoundry/let

2023-12-16

@mel_hogan I'm enjoying the discussions so far, but do you think you can have your future guests' audio levels boosted? All of the speakers sound muted.

2023-11-24

@carnage4life Similar sentiment from Ezra Klein's column the other day: “OpenAI had always told its investors that something like this might happen. ‘It would be wise to view any investment in OpenAI Global LLC in the spirit of a donation,’ it warned. The company then went out and raised tens of billions of dollars from people who did not see their investments as donations. That certainly describes Microsoft, which… has never described its strategy as philanthropic.”

nytimes.com/2023/11/22/opinion

2023-11-24

@http_error_418 We've met the enemy, etc.

Vance Ricks boosted:
2023-11-22

„AI has 99 problems and only one of them is technical. It’s critical to confront the reality that AI is just modern data science with one major promise (or peril): It’s our only hope of making sense of the vast quantities of unstructured data produced by ubiquitous sensors and surveillance. It is this underlying motivation that needs our attention.“

@mallory in internet.exchangepoint.tech/ai

2023-11-19

Two openings for professors of Ethics and Values In Design -- one of these is a joint appointment between the Philosophy and Computer Science departments -- application deadline 01 December 2023
(northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs)

One opening for a teaching professor of Engineering Ethics -- a joint appointment between the Philosophy and Engineering departments -- application deadline 15 December 2023
(northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs)

2023-11-19

Here are links to information about three cross-disciplinary academic jobs at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., USA. If you know someone with a PhD in philosophy, engineering, CS, science and technology studies, sociology, information science, and/or urban planning, who might be interested, then please let them know!

2023-11-10

@jackhistorynorton The damage to their learning?

Vance Ricks boosted:
David ColarussoColarusso
2023-11-08

The moment of terror when you get an email from Zoom saying someone's joined a talk you're supposed to give but you thought it was tomorrow!!!

Followed by the relief that it is in fact tomorrow and someone must have been testing the link.

2023-11-08

BRAID/Microsoft Research research fellowship: "Challenge on Joyful AI”

braiduk.org/fellowships/challe

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