The potential benefits of integrating Artificial Intelligence in business – from efficiency and productivity gains to improved customer service and enhanced talent management – have been extensively articulated. However, business leaders, computer scientists, policy makers, and other key stakeholders must also reckon with the various ethics, responsibility, and human rights concerns that AI presents.

Join us in person at Queen's Business School on Friday 24 June 2022 from 8.30am for a networking breakfast and keynote panel discussion on how to leverage the opportunities presented by AI while minimising the risks to human rights. Panellists will include:

• Naomh McElhatton, CEO at Stimul.ai, Entrepreneurial Lead at Women in AI Ireland, and Curator of She Said Club
• Dr Scott H. Hawley, Professor of Physics and Data Collaborative Fellow, Belmont University, Nashville
• Dr Ciarán O'Kelly, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director LLM in Law and Technology, Queen's University School of Law
• Dr Deepak Padmanabhan, Senior Lecturer, Queen's University School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

The free event is aligned to the work of the Northern Ireland Business and Human Rights Student Ambassador Programme, a collaborative initiative between the Northern Ireland Business and Human Rights Forum and Queen's Business School. It will be facilitated by Laura Steele, Director of Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability, and Julie McCandless, Director of Business Engagement, at Queen’s Management School.

This event aims to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 5: Gender Equality; SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; and SDG 10: Reduced Inequality.

Panellist Bios

Naomh McElhatton, CEO at Stimul.ai, Entrepreneurial Lead at Women in AI Ireland, and Curator of She Said Club

Naomh McElhatton was named as one of Ireland’s Top Five Entrepreneurs to Watch by the Irish Times. With over 20 years experience working in the digital and creative industries, she most recently co-founded Stimul.ai with Prof. Barry O'Sullivan of University College Cork. Stimul.ai is an AI driven strategic clinical design tool that was built to optimize and reduce Diagnostic Hospital Waiting Lists.

In addition to her work with Stimul.ai, Naomh is also the Entrepreneurial Lead at Women in AI Ireland, a guest lecturer at Ulster University, Curator of the She Said Club (an online community for women), mentor, well known guest speaker and STEM Ambassador.

Dr Scott H. Hawley, Professor of Physics and Data Collaborative Fellow, Belmont University, Nashville

Dr. Scott H. Hawley’s interdisciplinary research spans machine learning (ML), signal processing, and philosophy, which come together in his “Deep Learning & AI Ethics” course offered in the Business Systems Analytics program. His essays on ML technology include “the most popular Acoustics Today article of 2020”, the winner of the 2020 FaithTech Writing Contest, and an invited chapter in The Transhumanism Handbook. He serves on the board of AI Theology, is a Founding Member of AI and Faith, and is a research collaboration member of Harmonai.

Dr Ciarán O'Kelly, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director LLM in Law and Technology, Queen's University School of Law

Dr Ciarán O'Kelly works at the intersection of law, governance, and philosophy. He is particularly interested in the interface between law and technology, especially the impact of algorithmic decision-making on the idea of accountable governance and administration. Ciarán is the Programme Director of the LLM in Law and Technology at Queen’s University and is a member of the core management team for the interdisciplinary LINAS Doctoral Training Programme, focused on the impacts that AI, data processing and new technologies have on law and society and the ways that they are shaped by law and society in turn.

Dr Deepak Padmanabhan, Senior Lecturer, Queen's University School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Dr Deepak Padmanabhan’s research is centred on data analytics spanning areas such as natural language processing and spatio-temporal data processing, with a focus on unsupervised tasks within those realms. His current interests span three distinct – and highly topical – streams: fairness and ethics in machine learning; data science approaches for fake news detection; and spatio-temporal data processing.

Dr Laura Steele, Senior Lecturer and Director of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability, Queen’s Business School

Dr Laura Steele’s work is focused on the intersection between ethics, responsibility, sustainability, and in particular, how these concepts are supported or inhibited by emerging technologies. In 2019, she developed a new postgraduate module at Queen’s Business School on Artificial Intelligence in Business and Society. 

Julie McCandless, Professor of Practice and Director of Business Engagement, Queen’s Management School

Prior to joining Queen’s Business School, Julie McCandless gained extensive experience in business consulting having worked for three international management consultancies in Dublin, Hong Kong, and London. As a Professor of Practice and Director of Business Engagement, she is keen to collaborate with businesses of all sizes to create innovative experiential educational experiences for our students and to support business development and growth through research and collaboration.