Advancing Responsible Technology
through Solutions-Based Research and Education
The AI Ethics Lab at Rutgers University is an international research initiative examining the ethical and legal implications of artificial intelligence from design and development to deployment, use, and monitoring.
The lab advances a solutions scholarship methodology that identifies ethical challenges while developing practical strategies to help leaders build technologies that benefit humanity and the environment.
Ambassador Prof. Muhammadou M. O. Kah, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar at the AI Ethics Lab
Impactful Engagements
Founded by Principal Investigator Dr. Nathan C. Walker, the AI Ethics Lab is housed in the Department of Philosophy & Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University–Camden.
The lab’s work reflects a growing network of research appointments, international scholarly contributions, invited talks, and engagements across academia, industry, government, and nonprofit sectors. Selected engagements by Dr. Walker include:
- Served as a Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI
- Presented AI and human rights research at a safety conference at UNESCO, Paris
- Moderated a North–South Policy Dialogue on AI and Human Rights at Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- Contributed to Aspen Digital’s Defining Technologies of Our Time
From Rights to Code to Governance
The AI & Human Rights Index transforms eight decades of human rights law into a technical protocol that powers a continuous governance flywheel to evaluate and improve AI systems.
Step 1.
Build AI & Human Rights Index
Map the relationship among AI, human rights, and legal instruments across societal sectors, with special attention to vulnerable groups.
Step 2.
Design Technical Protocol
Translate the legal index into a structured semantic system for evaluating how AI systems may violate or advance human rights.
Step 3.
Activate Governance Flywheel
Activate a continuous feedback system that democratizes the monitoring and training of AI systems by integrating diverse perspectives into efforts to reduce real harms and advance human rights.
Democratizing
AI Ethics through Design
Project Insight addresses 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.
Enroll
The lab’s courses contribute to training undergraduate and graduate students across philosophy, digital studies, computer science, data science, and emerging media.
From Principles to Practice
The AI Ethics Lab translates research into practice through applied ethics programs that support leaders across sectors.
Academia
Advancing teaching, learning, and research related to AI, ethics, and law, as illustrated in the invited talks given at Columbia University and Virginia Tech.
Government
Provide legal research on local, state, national, and international laws related to artificial intelligence.
NGOs
Provide talks and workshops for nonprofits organizations, like the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the International Rescue Committee.
Industry
Partner with global leaders to facilitate ethics-to-industry workshops.
Training
AI Founders
The Moral Imagination Exchange (MIX) is a series of applied-ethics workshops that support founders and leaders of AI-driven companies, preparing them to mitigate real harms. MIX concludes with exercises that support founders in developing their company’s Decision Infrastructure for the AI Lifecycle (DIAL) that they present to investors as evidence of their commitment to build trustworthy AI products.
Get Involved
The AI Ethics Lab welcomes students, scholars, and practitioners to collaborate.
For Students
Become a research assistant, a teaching assistant, or earn academic credit.
For Experts
Contribute your expertise to research, publications, and applied ethics initiatives.
For Philanthropists
Make a tax-deductible contribution to the Humans First Fund.
Featured News
The AI Ethics Lab, rooted in Camden, New Jersey, has measurable international research:
- Research collaborations spanning North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia
- Contributions to global AI governance conversations, including UNESCO and UN-affiliated convenings
- Publications across books, policy reports, and peer-reviewed scholarship
- Interdisciplinary student cohorts representing more than a dozen academic disciplines
- Invited talks and workshops across academic, industry, and public-sector institutions
Interdisciplinary student researchers share their work on AI and human rights.
Presenting the AI & Human Rights Index as part of a global convening on safe and ethical AI.
Visiting Scholar Ambassador Kah chaired WIPO meeting on the intersection of intellectual property and frontier technologies.
Published analysis of the problem of the outdated legal definition of AI in U.S. law.
Presented at event sponsored by BAU Global, AWS, Intel, Telescope, Skyloop, and Future Campus.