Distinguished Faculty Retirement

The Warren Center recognizes the retirement of faculty affiliate Anita Allen. An internationally renowned expert on philosophical and legal dimensions of privacy and data protection, bioethics, legal philosophy, and women’s rights, Allen has been a member of Penn Law School's faculty since 1998.

Law
Philosophy

Social Norms for Algorithms

Here Is the Science of Why You Doomscroll

How (and why) do we decide between long-term planning and instant gratification? "Understanding how our brains weigh these decisions can help us bridge what feels good now with what truly matters," writes Emily Falk in her recent New York Times guest essay.

Communication
Marketing
Psychology

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

To Make Better Choices, Understand How Your Brain Processes Values

Much has been made of the power of habit. But what about our more intentional, conscious day-to-day choices? Emily Falk spoke with Scientific American about how the brain sifts through options and how reflecting on our priorities can help align our behaviors with long-term aims.

Communication
Marketing
Operations Information and Decisions
Psychology

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

5 Truths Every Young Professional Needs to Know About AI

The challenge for young people just entering the workforce is twofold: master the technical skills related to AI while navigating uncertainty around career growth. In a new Forbes article, Chris Callison-Burch notes that AI is expanding access to powerful tools, giving young professionals new ways to build and define their careers.

Computer and Information Science

Ubiquity of Data

Why AI Acts So Creepy When Faced With Being Shut Down

“When [an AI] model is set up with an opportunity to fail and you see it fail, that’s super useful information,” said Robert Ghrist to Business Insider. “That means we can predict what it’s going to do in other, more open circumstances.”

Electrical and Systems Engineering
Mathematics

Ubiquity of Data

How Cable News Has Diverged From Broadcast News

From 2012 to 2022, cable news stations diverged from broadcast news and from each other in the topics they covered and the language they used, according to researchers from Duncan Watts' Computational Social Science Lab.

Communication
Computer and Information Science
Operations Information and Decisions

Consensus and Contagion in Society

What Is an NPU? A Penn Expert Explains

In a Penn Today Q&A, Benjamin C. Lee explains what neural processing units are and why they’re showing up in newer consumer electronics like high-end smartphones and laptops. NPUs, he says, are the “frontier” for today’s processor designers.

Computer and Information Science
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Ubiquity of Data

Guardrails Versus Leashes: Finding a Better Way to Regulate AI Technology

A flexible system of oversight, rather than a rigid one, is needed to make sure AI systems are safe, says Cary Coglianese. He calls it the “leash” approach, mirroring taking a dog for a walk. “We want technological innovation to explore and traverse, but we want to make sure that, as it’s developing, somebody’s overseeing it.”

Law
Political Science

Social Norms for Algorithms

Unlocking the Mechanics of Protein Misfolding

An interdisciplinary team led by Lee C. Bassett and Dani Bassett has studied the mechanical properties of prions, the mysterious shape-shifting proteins that are infamous for mad cow disease yet essential for yeast survival.

Bioengineering
Electrical and Systems Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Psychiatry

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

Training Tomorrow’s Data Scientists

This year, as part of its new AI x Science initiative, the Data Driven Discovery Initiative has expanded its four-year-old postdoctoral fellow program to include researchers from Penn Engineering and Penn Medicine using cutting-edge techniques in data science and artificial intelligence.

Computer and Information Science
Criminology
Electrical and Systems Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Radiology

Ubiquity of Data