Puget Sound Symposium on AI & Privacy

Trimble Forum

• Drew Kerkhoff, Provost

• Ariela Tubert, AI & Human Values Initiative and Professor of Philosophy

Trimble Forum

Featured Speaker:

• Ryan Calo, University of Washington

This opening session explores the impact of contemporary AI on individual and societal privacy. The speaker will outline what is distinct about privacy in the age of AI—how large-scale data inference, automated decision-making, and anthropomorphic interfaces create new forms of vulnerability, reshape expectations of control, and challenge existing legal and ethical frameworks.

Trimble Forum

Panelists:

• Jennifer King, Stanford University

• Adam Moore, University of Washington

This session examines the complex challenges that arise when AI can interpret, infer, or predict information from our bodies, brains, and digital archives. The discussion will explore how technological tools blur the boundaries between personal data and the most intimate markers of identity. This session highlights the distinctive vulnerabilities created when personal data become legible to AI systems.

On campus or nearby options available

Trimble Forum

Panelists:

• Afroditi Psarra, University of Washington

• Cam Smith, independent artist

• James Wenlock, independent artist and software developer

Art Exhibit “New Privacy Practices” open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Kittredge Media Space.

Trimble Forum

Panelists:

• Akshita Bhagia, Ai2

• Yuval Marton, Genentech

This session highlights emerging technical strategies for addressing privacy concerns at the design and development stages of AI systems. It will explore innovations such as data obfuscation and manipulation techniques that disrupt unwanted inference, new privacy-preserving methods for data sharing and research, and engineering practices that embed privacy considerations directly into system architecture. Drawing on work ranging from adversarial tools that protect individuals from AI-driven identification to large-scale efforts to rethink how datasets are constructed and released, the discussion will examine how technologists are reimagining privacy as a core design challenge.

Trimble Forum

Panelists:

• Mike Hintze, Hintze Law

• Austin Jenkins, Pluribus News

• Representative Shelly Kloba, Washington State Legislature

• Ben Merkel, Anthropic

• Chris Riley, Data Transfer Initiative

• Katherine Ruckle, Washington State Chief Privacy Officer

This session examines the evolving landscape of privacy protection in the age of artificial intelligence, considering the roles of policymakers, civic organizations, and businesses in shaping rules, norms, and practices around data collection, processing, and algorithmic decision-making. Discussion will cover a range of privacy governance models, including industry self-regulation through privacy-by-design principles, government-driven data protection regulation, and hybrid public–private approaches to safeguarding personal information in AI systems. Participants will explore how different actors interact, coordinate, and influence the development of privacy-preserving AI technologies and oversight mechanisms, gaining a broad perspective on the practical and strategic choices shaping privacy governance in AI deployment today.

Tahoma Room

Keynote Speaker:

• Nita Farahany, Duke University

We are in an era where the lines between technology and the human mind are increasingly blurred. Imagine a world where your thoughts, feelings, and unspoken words become an open book, where doctors can catch disorders long before symptoms start to develop—or your boss can monitor your thoughts at work.

This intriguing premise sets the stage for Nita Farahany’s exploration of the transformative potential of brain-sensing technology and artificial intelligence. In her talk, she offers a profound glimpse into the near future, demystifying the complex advancements in AI and neurotechnology and making them accessible. A leading voice on the ethics of emerging technologies, Nita unveils the potential that these new tools have to delve into the deepest realms of human consciousness. The implications are vast and varied, ranging from revolutionizing healthcare with groundbreaking diagnostic and treatment methods, to enhancing cognitive abilities, and fundamentally altering our interaction with the digital world. She balances this optimism with a thoughtful examination of potential risks—concerns that extend beyond the hypothetical. From mental surveillance and thought manipulation to the emerging threat of cognitive warfare, Nita describes how our minds are the new battleground.

Far from a speculative glimpse into the future, this talk serves as a compelling call to action. Nita encourages the audience to take an active role in shaping a future where technological advancements are not just unrestrained progressions, but are steered towards augmenting our personal freedoms and dignity.

Nita Farahany is the Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Professor of Law & Philosophy and Founding Director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society. She is a widely published scholar on the ethics of emerging technologies, including the book The Battle for Your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology. She was appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, where she served for seven years. Farahany currently serves on the National Advisory Council for the National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke, as an elected member of the American Law Institute, and on the Global Future Council on Frontier Risks for the World Economic Forum, among others. Farahany is a frequent commentator for national media and radio shows. She presents her work to diverse academic, legal, corporate, and public audiences including at TED, the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, Judicial Conferences for US Court of Appeals, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and the Biosciences and is on the Board of Advisors for Scientific American.