Mona Sloane

Sociologist, Expert on AI, Innovation and Ethics

Mona Sloane

Sociologist, Expert on AI, Innovation and Ethics

Dr. Mona Sloane is an internationally recognized expert on artificial intelligence (AI). As a sociologist, she leads cutting-edge research on the social implications of AI and frequently publishes and speaks about AI innovation and use, ethics, risk, equity, and policy, particularly in the US-EU context. At New York University, Dr. Sloane runs her own event series called “Co-Opting AI” where she regularly hosts renowned experts and thought leader such as Kara Swisher, Alondra Nelson, Ruha Benjamin, and many more. In Spring 2020, Dr. Mona Sloane worked with the Swiss Consulate New York City on the “AI Here and There” series on the social impact of AI. At NYU Tandon’s School of Engineering, Dr. Sloane serves as Research Professor of Technology, Culture and Society, as well as a Senior Research Scientist at the NYU Center for Responsible AI, where she focuses on conducting cutting-edge interdisciplinary research to develop, implement, and disseminate best-in-class open-source tools and frameworks for operationalizing responsibility at all stages of the AI lifecycle. Dr. Mona Sloane is the Founding Director of the *This Is Not A Drill* program at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, which develops a public pedagogy on art, equity, technology and the climate emergency and provides stipend to faculty, student, and community artists. She also serves as the technology editor for Public Books, a digital magazine hosted between Columbia University and NYU, and is a Fellow with The GovLab. Dr. Sloane works on new methods for AI auditing, innovating AI procurement, AI in recruiting and hiring, AI, participation and public education, new AI tools for investigative journalism, local governance innovation on AI, AI ethics and start-ups, and a range of other responsible AI topics. Mona also supports the organization FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) in developing new pedagogies focused on technology, design, ethics, and Holocaust studies. In 2020-2021, Dr. Mona Sloane was awarded a grant from the New America Public Interest Technology University Network to lead A BETTER TECH, a public interest technology convention and career fair that brought together students and organizations in the public interest technology space across the United States and beyond, and that reached over 12,000 people. She is also affiliated with the Tübingen AI Center in Germany where she recently completed a 3-year federally funded research project on the operationalization of ethics in German AI startups. Recent projects Dr. Mona Sloane has led as principal investigator include the Terra Incognita NYC project, an investigation of New York City’s digital public spaces in the pandemic, as well as the AI Procurement Roundtables project in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association. Dr. Sloane holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has completed fellowships at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of Cape Town. In 2020, Dr. Sloane was named to the Women in AI Ethics™ Hall of Fame for her exceptional contributions to the space of AI ethics and diversity. She was also named one of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™ in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, she was named a NYU Faculty Honoree. Since 2021, she has served on the board of the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs. Dr. Sloane is an experienced public speaker, moderator, and writer. Her bylines have appeared in The Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The Hill, MIT Technology Review, Project Syndicate, BRINK, and other venues. She is frequently quoted in popular media outlets, such as The Atlantic, Quartz, Bloomberg, Aljazeera, or Mashable, and provides expert testimonies for policy makers and government agencies. Dr. Sloane regularly speaks at international venues and events, such as the United Nations, Politico AI Summit, the European Commission, Deutsche Welle, the American Council on Germany, the Magical Startups Digital Summit Chile, or the Carnegie Council. Since 2021, Dr. Sloane has served as judge for the MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 Contest.

About Mona Sloane

Dr. Mona Sloane is an internationally recognized expert on artificial intelligence (AI). As a sociologist, she leads cutting-edge research on the social implications of AI and frequently publishes and speaks about AI innovation and use, ethics, risk, equity, and policy, particularly in the US-EU context.

At New York University, Dr. Sloane runs her own event series called “Co-Opting AI” where she regularly hosts renowned experts and thought leader such as Kara Swisher, Alondra Nelson, Ruha Benjamin, and many more. In Spring 2020, Dr. Mona Sloane worked with the Swiss Consulate New York City on the “AI Here and There” series on the social impact of AI. At NYU Tandon’s School of Engineering, Dr. Sloane serves as Research Professor of Technology, Culture and Society, as well as a Senior Research Scientist at the NYU Center for Responsible AI, where she focuses on conducting cutting-edge interdisciplinary research to develop, implement, and disseminate best-in-class open-source tools and frameworks for operationalizing responsibility at all stages of the AI lifecycle. Dr. Mona Sloane is the Founding Director of the This Is Not A Drill program at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, which develops a public pedagogy on art, equity, technology and the climate emergency and provides stipend to faculty, student, and community artists. She also serves as the technology editor for Public Books, a digital magazine hosted between Columbia University and NYU, and is a Fellow with The GovLab. Dr. Sloane works on new methods for AI auditing, innovating AI procurement, AI in recruiting and hiring, AI, participation and public education, new AI tools for investigative journalism, local governance innovation on AI, AI ethics and start-ups, and a range of other responsible AI topics.

Mona also supports the organization FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) in developing new pedagogies focused on technology, design, ethics, and Holocaust studies.
In 2020-2021, Dr. Mona Sloane was awarded a grant from the New America Public Interest Technology University Network to lead A BETTER TECH, a public interest technology convention and career fair that brought together students and organizations in the public interest technology space across the United States and beyond, and that reached over 12,000 people. She is also affiliated with the Tübingen AI Center in Germany where she recently completed a 3-year federally funded research project on the operationalization of ethics in German AI startups. Recent projects Dr. Mona Sloane has led as principal investigator include the Terra Incognita NYC project, an investigation of New York City’s digital public spaces in the pandemic, as well as the AI Procurement Roundtables project in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association.

Dr. Sloane holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has completed fellowships at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of Cape Town.
In 2020, Dr. Sloane was named to the Women in AI Ethics™ Hall of Fame for her exceptional contributions to the space of AI ethics and diversity. She was also named one of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™ in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, she was named a NYU Faculty Honoree. Since 2021, she has served on the board of the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs.

Dr. Sloane is an experienced public speaker, moderator, and writer. Her bylines have appeared in The Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The Hill, MIT Technology Review, Project Syndicate, BRINK, and other venues. She is frequently quoted in popular media outlets, such as The Atlantic, Quartz, Bloomberg, Aljazeera, or Mashable, and provides expert testimonies for policy makers and government agencies. Dr. Sloane regularly speaks at international venues and events, such as the United Nations, Politico AI Summit, the European Commission, Deutsche Welle, the American Council on Germany, the Magical Startups Digital Summit Chile, or the Carnegie Council. Since 2021, Dr. Sloane has served as judge for the MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 Contest.

Topics

  • How to Create Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • The Social Impact of AI
  • Design and Inequality in the 21st Century
  • The Role of Ethics in Technology
  • The AI Start-Up Landscape in Germany
  • Technology Policy (especially US-EU)
  • New Approaches to AI Auditing
  • Innovating Public Procurement of AI
  • The Role of AI in Hiring
  • This is Not A Drill: AI, Art and Climate Change
  • Digital Public Space during the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • The Potential of Natural Language Processing Tools for Investigative Journalism