Stay tuned for more talks in our Technology, Policy & Ethics Lecture Series!


May 23, 2012
Robots, Privacy & Society

Ryan Calo, director of privacy and robotics research at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, will talk about the challenge that robots (especially those with surveillance and recording capabilities) pose to privacy. He will also discuss legal and design solutions to this issue, which may help robotics realize its transformative potential in society.

This talk is open to the public and will be held on Wednesday, May 23 from 10:00a-12:00p at University Union's Chumash Auditorium (Building 65, Room 205: center stage). Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.

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Previous talks:


May 13, 2011
Ethics of Facebook

Prof. Anthony Beavers returns to discuss Facebook, since the social network has evolved much in the last two years. Given the site's growing social and political power, Dr. Beavers will explore what the company intends to, or can, do with it. From the user’s perspective, Facebook is just a site for connecting with friends, “friends”, and family. But what else is going on, particularly with respect to our values?

The talk is open to the public and will be held on Friday, May 13, from 1:00-2:30p at Philips Hall (Building 6, Room 124).  Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.


March 4, 2011
Ethics of Robots and Sex

Dr. John Sullins, ethics professor at Sonoma State Univ., will talk about the possibility of sex-robots and the clever ways engineers are manipulating human emotions, such as our tendency to anthropomorphize objects. Are there moral limits to exploiting human psychology, and is there more to love than satisfying physical desires?

This talk is open to the public and will be held on Friday, March 4, from 2:00-3:30p at Fisher Science Hall (Building 33, Room 286). Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.


February 4, 2011
New Military Technologies and the Resort of War

US Naval Academy professor George R. Lucas, Jr. will talk about a pressing concern with novel military technologies—that robotics, cyberweapons, and so on are making war easier to engage in, rather than saving it as a last resort. But how exactly should we understand the "principle of last resort"? This will determine how high (or low) we set the threshold for when we're morally allowed to wage war.

The talk is open to the public and will be held on Friday, February 4, from 2:00-3:30p at Philips Hall (Building 6, Room 124).  Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.


March 12, 2010
Ethics of Neuroscience

Stanford law professor Hank Greely will talk about the emerging field of neuroscience and six key areas in which it will challenge society: prediction, mind-reading, responsibility, consciousness, treatment, and enhancement. He is also co-director of the Law & Neuroscience Project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, and director of Stanford's Center for Law and the Biosciences.

The talk is open to the public and will be held on Friday, March 12, from 2:00-3:30p at Philips Hall (Building 6, Room 124).  Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.


May 4, 2009
Ethics of Facebook

Dr. Anthony Beavers, philosophy professor at University of Evansville and currently a visiting scholar at Indiana University's cognitive science program, will discuss some ethical issues related to Facebook, beyond the usual concerns of privacy, employer scrutiny, and so on.  These new issues include: whether Facebook redefines friendship in helpful or harmful ways; how its news feed influences which relationships will develop or not; and more.

The talk is open to the public and will be held on Monday, May 4, 2009, from 2-3:30p in (Graphic Arts) Building 26, Room 103.  Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.


April 10, 2009
Ethics of Cyberweapons

Dr. Neil Rowe, professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, will explain why using cyberweapons might result in war crimes and how we might modify cyberweapons to avoid these ethical landmines.  He will also discuss how we might prosecute and punish cyberwar crimes, which include forensics, interventions, cyberblockades, revelation of secrets, and reparations.

The talk is open to the public and will be held on Friday, April 10, from 11-12:30p at Philips Hall (Building 6, Room 124).  Please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.


Feb. 6, 2009
NSF & the New Research Ethics Requirement

We are launching our Technology & Ethics Lecture Series with a highly relevant and practical talk about a new research-ethics training requirement mandated by the America COMPETES Act.  This requirement affects all researchers seeking funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). 

Dr. Tom Powers of the University of Delaware will speak about his work and the challenges in formulating and complying with such policy.  The talk is open to the public and will be held on Friday, Feb. 6, from 12-1p at Fisher Science Building 33, Room 286.  For more details, please click here for the flyer or here for the press release.

For Speakers:

If you will be in the San Luis Obispo area and are interested in giving a talk at Cal Poly, please contact:

   Patrick Lin, Ph.D., Director
   palin at calpoly.edu


Our Invited Talks:

November 9, 2011
Patrick Lin will brief the US intelligence community on ethical and policy surprises related to robots, at a Technology Focus Day sponsored by In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture-capital arm.


August 31, 2011
Patrick Lin will brief a National Research Council/DARPA committee on ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of emerging military technolgies, at the National Academies' Beckman Center at UC Irvine. Click here for more information.


July 7, 2011
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Military Human Enhancements: On the Frontlines of Science and Society", at the Brocher Foundation's Summer Academy near Geneva, Switzerland. Click here for more information.


July 1, 2011
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Informational Warfare: Exposing the Fuzzy Logic in International Law", at the first UNESCO-sponsored workshop on informational warfare at the University of Hertfordshire (UK). Click here for more information.


May 28, 2011
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Soldier 2.0: How Engineering a Better Warfighter Disrupts Society", at the Society for Philosophy and Technology's annual conference at the University of North Texas. Click here for coverage on Wired.com.


April 26, 2011
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter?: From Science to Ethics", at the Ethics in Nanoscience Workshop at the University of Delaware.


April 22, 2011
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Philosophical Collaboration: A Case Study in Technology Ethics (or: How to Herd Cats)", at the American Philosophical Association's Pacific Division meeting in San Diego.


Mar 14 , 2011
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Military Blowback: Ethics, Emerging Technologies, and Society", at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.


Nov 19, 2010:
George Bekey will deliver a talk, on military robots, at the Naval Postgraduate School's Distinguished Lecture Series. Click here for coverage of the talk.


Nov 17, 2010:
George Bekey will deliver a talk, on the increasing trend of ethics in STEM fields, at the 5th Annual Fall Ethics Symposium at Cosumnes River College. Click here for the conference program.


June 18, 2010:
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Robot Guardians: Ethical and Legal Issues in a Mechanized World", at the Computers, Freedom & Privacy 2010 conference at San Jose State University. Click here for the conference site.


June 13, 2010:
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Military 2.0: Ethical Issues in Human Enhancement and Robotics", at the Humanity+ Summit at Harvard University. Click here for the conference site.


May 27, 2010:
Patrick Lin will be a panelist at the local TEDx event in San Luis Obispo (TEDxChumash, "People 3.0: Leadership Beyond Barriers"). Click here for the event site.


May 12, 2010:
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Accelerating Evolution: Ethics of Human Enhancement Technologies", at Cal Poly's Science Café. Click here for the event site.


April 22, 2010:
Patrick Lin will deliver a talk, "Enhanced Warfighers: Ethical and Social Implications", about issues related to human enhancement at the US Naval Academy's annual ethics conference. Click here for the conference site.


April 9, 2010:
Keith Abney will talk about about "death panels" and Hurricane Katrina: the ethics of triage and rationing healthcare, as part of Allan Hancock College's Ethics Seminar. Click here for the flyer.


August 14, 2009:
Dr. Patrick Lin will debate the merits of gene patenting as part of the Leadership San Luis Obispo (SLO) program, affiliated with the SLO Chamber of Commerce.


March 10, 2009:
Professor emeritus Dr. George Bekey, founder of USC's robotics lab and co-author of our recent report on military robots and their ethical issues, will present some of our findings at Cal Poly's Research Scholar-in-Residence Lecture Series.


Please keep checking this page for information about upcoming lectures, which will also cover societal/ethical issues related to robotics, neuroscience, and other leading-edge areas of technology.