john basl

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Are COVID-19 vaccine trials ethical?

As the race to create a COVID-19 vaccine speeds ahead, many people have expressed an unwillingness to receive the immunization…

by Emily Arntsen October 23, 2020

Northeastern professors Ron Sandler and John Basl provide organizations a framework for creating a well-designed and effective artificial intelligence and data ethics committee in a new report produced in collaboration with global professional services company Accenture.

Northeastern researchers team up with Accenture to offer a road map for artificial intelligence ethics oversight

In a newly published report, Northeastern professors John Basl and Ron Sandler offer a framework for governments, higher education, and industry to incorporate committees to oversee the ethics of the development of artificial intelligence technologies and responsible collection of data.

by Khalida Sarwari August 29, 2019

A soft gripper attachment holds a fake fish in Taşkın Padır's lab in the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Seafood processing plants are harsh environments for human workers. They don’t have to be.

Researchers at Northeastern are designing robots to make the seafood processing industry safer and more comfortable for human workers and more efficient and profitable for companies.

by Laura Castañón August 28, 2019

Marc Reibert, founder of Boston Dynamics, presented the SpotMini robot at CeBIT 2018 in Hanover, Germany, on June 13, 2018. SpotMini is a small four-legged robot with the ability to pick up and handle objects using its 5 degree-of-freedom arm and perception sensors. (Photo by Laura Chiesa / Pacific Press/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

Does artificial intelligence deserve the same ethical protections we give to animals?

John Basl, an assistant professor of philosophy at Northeastern, proposes that we create oversight committees to carefully evaluate research involving artificial intelligence. “The nightmare scenario,” he says, “is that we create a machine mind and, without knowing, do something to it that’s painful.”

by Molly Callahan May 9, 2019

Remembering Michael Meyer, the enigmatic philosophy professor who mentored so many students

Michael Meyer, associate teaching professor in Northeastern’s Department of Philosophy and Religion, will be remembered for his depth of knowledge, his dry wit, and his devotion to his students. He died last month, at the age of 72.

by Ian Thomsen September 4, 2018

Cody Wilson holds a 3-D-printed gun called the Liberator at his shop in Austin, Texas. A federal judge in Seattle has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the release of blueprints to make untraceable and undetectable 3-D-printed plastic guns. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

We can print plastic guns. But should we?

Is it ethically acceptable to create nearly undetectable guns at home? Is it ethically right to release to the public the blueprints for how to make them? In other words, just because we can does it mean we should? Northeastern experts weigh in on this debate, which is the subject of a federal hearing Friday.

by Molly Callahan August 10, 2018

Gene editing embryos may lead to ‘pursuit of a conception of perfection’

For the first time, scientists have successfully edited a fatal genetic mutation out of human embryos. This advancement brings society one step closer to erasing some hereditary diseases, but what are the ethical implications of that power? Three Northeastern professors weigh in.

by Allie Nicodemo August 9, 2017

Tech companies should perhaps warn consumers about the addictive properties of their products. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Should tech companies warn consumers that their products could be addictive?

Americans reach for their smartphones dozens of times per day. Northeastern philosophy professor John Basl says that tech companies should warn consumers about the potentially addictive nature of their products. But he also notes that “the internet has opened up new avenues for social interaction.”

by Molly Callahan November 28, 2016