Student Spotlight: Nathalie DiBerardino
Global Undergraduate Awards 2023 Winner
Global Winner: Philosophy
The Global Undergraduate Awards recently announced the winning submissions for 2023, which include the following from Western: three Global Winners, three Regional Winners and 23 Highly Commended.
Meet Nathalie DiBerardino, BA‘23, Global Winner in the category of Philosophy (top submission in the category worldwide)
- Currently pursuing a master's degree in philosophy at Western
- Paper title: Ascriptive Algorithms: Exploring the Classificatory Influence of Predictive AI Technologies
Can you provide a brief summary of your research?
In my paper, I examine the classificatory influence of predictive AI technologies. I argue both that the use of predictive AI tools holds normative classificatory consequences, and that work in the philosophy of social science can help us to understand them. Given that predictive AI technologies are becoming increasingly common, there is an urgent need to explore their ethical impacts.
Within the paper, I make three main claims. First, I suggest that predictive AI tools hold the power to classify, and that this power shapes our own self-conceptions. Second, I suggest that AI tools have the power to illuminate new features of categories thanks to an inherent proxy-searching feature of their system design, and that this serves as evidence for social categories as being both constructed and real. Finally, I claim that AI tools entrench the categories they illuminate, which further solidifies the reality of those categories.
What led to your interest in this area?
I’ve been involved in work in AI ethics since my second year of undergraduate studies. I was lucky to have great mentors and professors who were very knowledgeable about the impact that AI is having in our lives, and as soon as I realized just how ubiquitous these technologies are, it was like I couldn’t look away. AI is very powerful, and while I think people are seeing that now with the popularity of tools like chatGPT, many aspects of AI’s impact on our social world have been underrecognized.
Given its power, AI can bring about benefits. But it can also be used in a way that causes harm, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and in ways that we might not expect. One example is AI’s impacts on our social classification schemes, which is what the paper is about. So, in general, I’m very interested in the ways that AI can cause harm and how we should respond to it. And I think that that’s such an urgent question, so it keeps me passionate and motivated to keep studying it!
What are your plans for the future – do you plan to continue in this field?
I’m currently doing my master's degree in philosophy at Western and continuing my work in AI ethics. After this, I am considering continuing this research and doing a PhD somewhere. That’s still up in the air, but I love philosophy so I know it will inform whatever I do next in some way!
DiBeradino will present her research at the Global Undergraduate Summit in Dublin, Ireland November 5-8, and will be recognized alongside Western’s other global and regional winners.
> Read more about Western students honoured by The Global Undergraduate Awards
