A University of Texas at Austin assistant professor has been recognized with a significant academic honor as she was named this month to a panel of experts who will explore the future of artificial intelligence on society.

Sharon Strover, Philip G. Warner Regents Professor in Communication, passes her Good Systems Chair position to Sherri Greenberg, LBJ School Assistant Dean for State and Local Government Engagement and Professor of Practice at LBJ School and Steve Hicks School of Social Work.

As the 2023-24 academic year begins, Good Systems Executive Team members and close collaborators share their thoughts on the most exciting developments in AI for social good as well as the most pressing ethical concerns facing society today.

The election of Professor Sherri Greenberg to chair of Good Systems couldn’t be more timely. UT Austin’s ethical AI grand challenge is ready to start shaping and informing public policy at the intersection of technology and society. And there are few as well equipped as Greenberg to lead this initiative.

Boston Dynamics is known for its viral videos where its autonomous robots dance, tackle obstacle courses or decorate for the holidays. There are even blooper reels that show how much work is required to make the robots perform even the simplest of tasks.

Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence, or AI, usage has skyrocketed. As a new academic year rapidly approaches for The University of Texas at Austin, faculty are working to balance fostering a learning environment with AI while preventing cheating among college students.

The Department of Computer Science and the Good Systems program present a one semester-credit-hour course titled “Essentials of AI for Life and Society.”

Led by School of Information professor Yan Zhang, a team of graduate students developed a prototype for an updated version of WCWH's Hornsense app in just 14 weeks.

Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin found that while majority-Black neighborhoods in Houston made up 14% of the area surveyed, those communities experienced 35% more pedestrian crashes than non-Black neighborhoods.

There is a direct line between under-investment in Black neighborhoods and the rising number of pedestrian crashes in those communities, Texas researchers found using Houston stats.