The Cascad.AI Summit for Responsible AI (2019)

The unstoppable Bethany Edwards of Northeastern University conceived of a conference that would invite forward-thinking technologists and ethicists together to share case studies, perspectives, and eventually co-create a manifesto for the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence. It became known as the the Cascadia Commitment, and would call on organizations to "consult affected communities and commit resources to make sure that their deployment of AI is not harming anyone."

As a leader in computer science, Bethany's professorial and professional experience gave her a unique window into what was already here, and what was to come, in the space of AI. For the inaugural 2019 conference and manifesto launch, Bethany and Northeastern University invited Canada's Open Roboethics Institute, (who brought their AI Ethics Assessment Toolkit), and my team at Domain7 were responsible for the design & facilitation of the event.

To support this, I was responsible for:

• Co-designing the in-person event and experience
• Facilitation and moderation for the panel
• Content strategy and copywriting for the microsite, while my incredible teammate Zach Bulick was lead on design and client care.

(Fun fact: Cascadia is the name of the Pacific Northwest region that spans BC, Washington and Oregon, west of the rockies, which was Bethany's target area, as an innovation corridor. The summit's name, Cascad.AI, is a clever play on Cascadia + AI, went along with its own domain name. I'm 61.5% sure the naming pun and domain name was my idea, but we'll need to verify that.)

Bethany based the Cascadia Commitment on the OECD Principles of AI, which informed the G20 adopted human-centred AI Principles in June 2019.

The conference itself took place at the Seattle Campus of Northeastern University, a lovely space in the heart of a technology-inspired city.