Led by principal investigator Dr. Nathan C. Walker, the AI Ethics Lab is a values-driven research collaborative that embraces a solutions scholarship methodology. Researchers identify moral challenges and actively develop practical policy strategies to foster responsible technologies that benefit humanity and the environment.
Currently, the lab’s four primary projects include international research on human rights, legal research on federal AI executive orders, historical research in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, and a design project to democratize ethics through self-reflection technology.
AI & Human Rights Index
The AI & Human Rights Index draws on eight decades of human rights law to organize the relationships among rights, the instruments used to measure and enforce those rights, the AI principles that illuminate gaps in existing law, their application across distinct societal sectors, and AI’s negative and positive impacts, especially on vulnerable populations.
Project Insight: Democratizing AI Ethics Through Design
Project Insight: Democratizing AI Ethics Through Design seeks to address challenges in online behavior and technology use by introducing Self-Reflection Technology that uses personalized ethical frameworks to empower users to make intentional decisions and self-regulate their online behavior and technology use. The ultimate objectives are to elevate human agency, enhance self-efficacy, and promote a meaningful and responsible digital culture.
AI Principles & U.S. Presidents
The AI Principles & U.S. Presidents project asks, which AI ethics have shaped U.S. federal policy on artificial intelligence over the last three presidential administrations? This legal research project applies an ethics-mapping methodology to code the principles articulated in 12 presidential executive orders on AI issued between 2019 and 2025.
Declarations of Interdependence
Declarations of Interdependence: 250 Voices to Reimagine America’s Founding Promises is a documentary history that reenvisions the Declaration of Independence (1776–2026) in light of its 250th anniversary. Its purpose is to shine a light on primary sources, including landmark legal, political, and cultural ideas from historically significant voices, from well-known figures to marginalized influencers.