
Ryan Calo is an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Law and a former research director at CIS. A nationally recognized expert in law and emerging technology, Ryan's work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Wired Magazine, and other news outlets. Ryan serves on several advisory committees, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Future of Privacy Forum. He co-chairs the American Bar Association Committee on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence and serves on the program committee of National Robotics Week.
Reminder: We Robot Deadline is November 1
By Ryan Calo on October 25, 2015 at 8:35 am
Hope to see you!
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We invite submissions for We Robot 2016 to be held in Coral Gables, Florida on April 1-2, 2016 at the University of Miami School of Law. We Robot–the premier US conference on law and policy relating to Robotics that began at the University of Miami School of Law in 2012, and has since been held at Stanford and University of Washington–returns to Miami Law April 1st-2nd in 2016. Attendees include lawyers, engineers, philosophers, robot builders, ethicists, and regulators who are on the front lines of robot theory, design, or development. The main conference will be preceded by a day of special workshops (see below). The conference web site is http://robots.law.miami.edu/2016.
REMINDER: We Robot abstracts due Nov. 3
By Ryan Calo on October 29, 2014 at 11:09 am
Announcing the We Robot 2015 Call for Papers
By Ryan Calo on October 3, 2014 at 12:26 pm
The program commitee invites submissions for the fourth annual robotics law and policy conference—We Robot 2015—to be held in Seattle, Washington on April 10-11, 2015 at the University of Washington School of Law. We Robot has been hosted twice at the University of Miami School of Law and once at Stanford Law School.
Everyone Knows Privacy Is About Power. Now What?
By Ryan Calo on August 15, 2014 at 11:32 pm
In a recent op-ed, author Evgeny Morozov claims that we tend to think of privacy in terms of control over personal information rather than power or influence. “The privacy debate, incapacitated by misplaced pragmatism, defines privacy as individual control over information flows,” writes Morozov. Instead we should be thinking of how and why powerful institutions use data to nudge us toward their own economic and political ends.
Robotics and the New Cyberlaw
By Ryan Calo on March 3, 2014 at 2:14 pm
Cyberlaw is the study of the intersection between law and the Internet. It should come as no surprise, then, that the defining questions of cyberlaw grew out of the Internet's unique characteristics. For instance: an insensitivity to distance led some courts to rethink the nature of jurisdiction. A tendency, perhaps hardwired, among individuals and institutions to think of "cyberspace" as an actual place generated a box of puzzles around the nature of property, privacy, and speech.
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Is Tricking a Robot Hacking?
Abstract
The term “hacking” has come to signify breaking into a computer system. A number of local, national, and international laws seek to hold hackers accountable for breaking into computer systems to steal information or disrupt their operation. Other laws and standards incentivize private firms to use best practices in securing computers against attack.
The Courts Can Handle the Deadly Uber Self-Driving Car Crash
This article is adapted from a forthcoming peer-reviewed essay in Volume 61 of the Communications of the ACM.
Privacy, Vulnerability, and Affordance
INTRODUCTION
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The Race Is On After Feds Pave Way for Driverless Trucks
"Ryan Calo, a professor at the University of Washington School of Law, allows that the document "concedes a lot to industry," but he adds that "it also reflects some mature thinking on the part of the DOT."
The Ick of AI That Impersonates Humans
"It isn't just our interactions with other humans that could be affected. “I worry a lot about how we’re building this world that’s supposed to be for convenience, comfort, and speed, but in fact makes us feel like someone is always listening, whether they are or not,” says Ryan Calo, a professor of law at the University of Washington who has studied the impacts of anthropomorphic robots on society.
Would a BDSM Sex Robot Violate Asimov's First Law of Robotics?
"Ryan Calo
Associate Professor, Law, University of Washington, and faculty co-director of the University of Washington Tech Policy Lab
A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human
"Ryan Calo, co-author of a legal essay titled “Regulating Bot Speech,” says it’s also not always easy to track what is commercial or political, especially when bots can generate unpredictable text.
IBM has invented coffee drones – and they predict when you need a cup
"To Ryan Calo, a University of Washington School of Law drone expert, the coffee drone proposal is trying to do too much.
"It's a combination of technology that is ready for prime time and technology that clearly is not ready for prime time," he said. "It's a drone that flies coffee around. It’s going to be hard, cross referencing all these (factors) ... Why not use a land-based cart?""
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8th Annual Privacy Papers for Policymakers (Past Event)
FPF is excited to announce that the 8th Annual Privacy Papers for Policymakers will open with remarks by
Exploring Augmented Reality (Past Event)
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a hearing on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, at 3:00 p.m. entitled “Exploring Augmented Reality.” The hearing will examine the emergence, benefits, and implications of augmented reality technologies. Unlike virtual reality that creates a wholly simulated reality, augmented reality attempts to superimpose images and visual data on the physical world in an intuitive way.
Witnesses:
• Mr. Brian Blau, Research Vice President, Gartner
Artificial Intelligence: Law and Policy (Past Event)
The University of Washington School of Law is delighted to announce a public workshop on the law and policy of artificial intelligence, co-hosted by the White House and UW’s Tech Policy Lab. The event places leading artificial intelligence experts from academia and industry in conversation with government officials interested in developing a wise and effective policy framework for this increasingly important technology. The event is free and open to the public but requires registration. -
National Security: The Impact of Technology on the Separation of Powers (Past Event)
For more information visit the University of Chicago Law School website.
National Security: The Impact of Technology on the Separation of Powers
Taking Responsibility for One’s Own Data Privacy and Security–Is it Possible, and How? (Past Event)
For more information and to register visit the CTIC website.
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast and Registration
9:00 – 9:15 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks
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Facebook Increasingly Reliant on A.I. To Predict Suicide Risk
November 17, 2018
"Law professor Ryan Calo, co-director of the University of Washington's Tech Policy Lab, says AI-based monitoring of social media may follow a predictable pattern for how new technologies gradually work their way into law enforcement.
"The way it would happen would be we would take something that everybody agrees is terrible — something like suicide, which is epidemic, something like child pornography, something like terrorism — so these early things, and then if they show promise in these sectors, we broaden them to more and more things. And that's a concern.""
Week In Geek Podcast: What will it take for us to quit Facebook?
March 24, 2018
Facebook is still reeling from the revelation that a British firm, Cambridge Analytica, improperly used millions of its users’ data. #DeleteFacebook is trending and those in the tech world are closely watching how users react to the news.
Can the tech giant turn a new leaf? What data are we willing to give up for the convenience of platforms? And would paying for services like Facebook solve the problem?
Amazon Go: No checkouts, but you are being watched
January 22, 2018
Nobody likes to wait in line. So today, Amazon removed that unpleasantness from the neighborhood grocery store. At Amazon Go, you walk in, pick up your groceries and walk out.
There are no checkout lines or scanners and almost no employees, just sensors and cameras. But what is that convenience going to cost you? We talk with Geekwire’s Todd Bishop and University of Washington law professor and privacy expert Ryan Calo.
Listen to the full interview at KUOW 94.9
Artificial Intelligence: Law and Policy
May 24, 2016
The University of Washington School of Law is delighted to announce a public workshop on the law and policy of artificial intelligence, co-hosted by the White House and UW’s Tech Policy Lab. The event places leading artificial intelligence experts from academia and industry in conversation with government officials interested in developing a wise and effective policy framework for this increasingly important technology.
A Criminal Probe Into Allegations Volkswagen Cheated On U.S. Emissions Tests
September 23, 2015