Maxwell School News and Commentary

He says his Maxwell education, particularly in political science and policy studies, provided a foundation in the multifaceted problem solving involved in his work. “Maxwell taught me how to widen my policy and regulatory aperture,” he says, “because that’s what creates success when certifying autonomous technologies in and outside aviation.”

Amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, Maxwell scholars are gathering critical data, designing policy and informing future leaders.

Surveys indicate that Swedish citizens display less anxiety about robots taking their jobs, in part because when companies introduce new technologies, they often pay to upgrade their workers’ skills. “If you upskill workers, you pay them more,” says Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology. “That's a more durable and sustainable process.”

"Even if the vast majority of jobs are unlikely to disappear, and if many new jobs are likely to be created, the nature of work will change due to the implementation of technologies like ChatGPT. We need to shift our thinking about how that change occurs," writes Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology.

“When interest rates were very low, companies basically had endless money—and investors were telling them to focus on growth, not profitability,” says Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology. “But because interest rates are rising, there’s a shift from big investors to say, ‘No, now you really have to focus on profitability.’ And the big way to do that is through cuts.”

Zhang, assistant professor of political science, has received up to $200K to research the role of citizens in the governance of artificial intelligence systems. 

"A world in which human interaction and emotional and facial expressions are surveilled and normed in such a way that it’s ethically defective in many different ways [is] like something straight from a 'Black Mirror' episode," says Johannes Himmelreich, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs.

“I think it's possible for AI systems not to be sentient, or at least not to the degree that humans are, and still be able to communicate with unique personalities,” says Baobao Zhang, assistant professor of political science and senior research associate in the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute.

Johannes Himmelreich, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs, was quoted in the Observer article, "Tesla’s Claim That Its Cars Are Self-Driving May Cross the Line From Permitted ‘Puffery’ to False Advertising."