Research

Contact Information

Department of Computer Science
Eolas Building
North Campus
Maynooth University
Maynooth
Co Kildare
Tel: (01) 708 3847
Email: computerscience.department@mu.ie

Profile

Artificial Intelligence

Development of AI Ethics by Design approach.

Dr Dainow is primarily concerned with the development of formal systems to evaluate the ethical status of AI developments.  He maintains a portal on Ethical AI initiatives at http://thinkmetrics.com/wp/tracking-ai-regulation/

Relevant Publications

  • Brey, Philip, Brandt Dainow, Yasmin J. Erden, Owen King, Philip Jansen, Rowen Rodrigues, Anais Resseguier, and Amal Matar. ‘D6.1 Generalised Methodology for Ethical Assessment of Emerging Technologies’. SIENNA Project. SIENNA Project, 2021.
  • Brey, Philip, Philip Jansen, Jonne Maas, Borgen Lungren, Anaïs Resseguier, and Brandt Dainow. ‘D4.7: An Ethical Framework for the Development and Use of AI and Robotics Technologies’. SIENNA Project. WP4: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics – Ethical, Legal and Social Analysis. Brussels: European Union, 2020.
  • Dainow, Brandt. ‘Yapay Zekâ Tasarim Etiği/AI Ethics By Design’. In Labirent: Yapay zekâ bir deva mi yoksa çikmaz mi?, edited by Özlem Derin Sağlam, 77–115. Istanbul: Kriter, 2023. www.kriteryayinevi.com.
  • Dainow, Brandt, and Philip Brey. ‘Ethics By Design and Ethics of Use Approaches for Artificial Intelligence’. Brussels: European Commission (DG Research and Innovation), 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ethics-by-design-and-ethics-of-use-approaches-for-artificial-intelligence_he_en.pdf.
  • ———. ‘Ethics by Design for Artificial Intelligence’. AI and Ethics, 21 September 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-023-00330-4.
  • Tamborino, Lisa, Philip Brey, Yasmin J. Erden, Brandt Dainow, Eliana Bergamin, Rowen Rodrigues, Nicole Santiago, et al. ‘D6.3. Methods for Translating Ethical Analysis into Instruments for the Ethical Development and Deployment of Emerging Technologies’. Twente, Netherlands: SIENNA Project, 2020.

Philosophy

Applied philosophy – threats to human autonomy from emerging ICT’s

Dr Dainow’s research focuses on current and future threats to human autonomy generated by emerging ICTs.  This research concerns ethical issues created by emerging digital technologies over the next 20-30 years, including Smart Cities, IoT, AI and autonomous systems, smart materials, bioelectronics and robotics.  His approach is primarily seated within Applied Philosophy and combines ethics, metaphysics, sociology, futureology and computer science.  Brandt’s primary influences are Aristotle, Kant, Latour, Bordieu, Nissenbaum, Groffman, Luhmann and Hutchby.

Relevant Publications

  • Dainow, Brandt. ‘Binding the Smart City Human-Digital System with Communicative Processes’. In Technology and the City, edited by Michael Nagenborg, 389–411. Cham: Springer, 2020.
  • ———. ‘Digital Alienation as the Foundation of Online Privacy Concerns’. Computers & Society ETHICOMP Special Issue (2015): 109–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/2874239.2874255.
  • ———. ‘Ethics in Emerging Technology’. ITNOW 56, no. 3 (1 September 2014): 16–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/itnow/bwu067.
  • ———. ‘Key Dialectics in Cloud Services’. Computers & Society ETHICOMP Special Issue (2015): 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1145/2874239.2874247.
  • ———. ‘Smart City Transcendent – Understanding the Smart City by Transcending Ontology’. Orbit 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.29297/orbit.v1i1.27.
  • ———. ‘Threats to Autonomy from Emerging ICTs’. Australasian Journal of Information Systems 21, no. 0 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v21i0.1438.
  • ———. ‘What Can a Medieval Friar Teach Us about the Internet: Deriving Criteria of Justice for Cyberlaw from Thomist Natural Law Theory’. Philosophy and Technology 26, no. 4 (2013): 459–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-013-0110-2.

Teaching Profile

Brandt is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department of the National University of Ireland (Maynooth), also known as Maynooth University, specialising in AI and ICT Ethics.  He is an occasional lecturer on ICT ethics in the Department of Philosophy.  He sometimes provides guest lectures at other European universities on AI and ICT ethics.