Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as automated vehicles, agentic AI, and automated weapons, are raising complex ethical challenges. They are reshaping our mobility systems, our institutions, and traditional power relationships between citizens, corporations, and states. To respond responsibly to these grand challenges, there is a need for coordinated research in applied ethics, engineering design, and policymaking.
Renewed as Canada Research Chair in the Ethical Engineering of Robotics and AI, Dr. Jason Millar will lead a research program in hose three research areas to: (i) investigate emerging and ongoing ethical issues in robotics and AI; (ii) develop highly practical, ethical engineering design frameworks, tools and methods to support ethical innovation in robotics and AI; and (iii) develop policy and policy tools that support the responsible governance of robotics and AI, and encourage ethical innovation in robotics and AI.
Dr. Millar is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Faculty of Engineering and a Faculty member at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa. He also runs the Canadian Robotics and AI Ethical Design Lab (CRAiEDL), an interdisciplinary lab funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The chair will leverage CRAiEDL to house and train a unique interdisciplinary team of researchers and students from different disciplines.
The Canada Research Chair Program is a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs are awarded to exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field.
The renewal of Dr. Millar appointment highlights the excellence of his thought leadership and the significance of his research in promoting ethical reflection in the design and governance of robotics and AI, while preparing the next generation of ethicists, engineers, and policymakers to work together toward responsible innovation.
Congratulations to Dr. Millar!