Northeastern Computer Science Professor Tina Iliasi-Randwhose research reveals the invisible but overwhelming influence that artificial intelligence algorithms have on people's lives, is the recipient of a top international award for her work on complex systems.
Eliassi-Rad is scheduled to receive it Lagrange Award-CRT Foundationconsidered the highest international recognition for scientists in the field of complex systems and data, on July 10 in Turin, Italy.
He was honored for “looking deeply into the evolving scenarios of artificial intelligence and the impact of science and technology on society,” according to the CRT Foundation, which has awarded the Lagrange Prize annually for 15 years.
“Her research pushes us to push new frontiers in understanding data and think more deeply about the ethics of the algorithms we create,” he says. Alessandro Vespignanidirector of Northeastern's Network Science Institute and its president ISI Foundationwhich coordinates with the CRT to award the Lagrange Award.
“Her contribution is not only about technological development, but raises fundamental questions about their impact and responsibility in our daily lives,” he says.
Named one of the 100 Most Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2021, Eliassi-Rad has a mission to make people of all ages, genders and cultures understand the impact AI has on them as human beings beings.
He has twice taught a Northeastern course he created for honors first-year students called “Algorithms That Impact Lives.”
With scenarios such as targeting advertising to bipolar individuals whose social media activity indicated they were entering a manic phase, Eliassi-Rad encouraged students to think about the ethical dilemmas posed by artificial intelligence.
Her research pushes us to push new frontiers in understanding data and think more deeply about the ethics of the algorithms we create.
Alessandro Vespignani, director of Northeastern's Network Science Institute and president of the ISI Foundation;
Some students would argue that it was fine as long as it wasn't illegal, while others said they didn't want to be in a society that preyed on the pocketbooks of vulnerable people, he says.
“AI is part of complex systems. We should not only educate undergraduates but we should educate everyone,” he says.
Eliassi-Rad has also researched the impact of technology on destabilizing democratic systems in the US and around the world.
“Social media is part of a complex system,” he says. When algorithms bring people into contact with other people who do not believe that the socioeconomic and political systems work for them, a destabilizing feedback loop can be created.
“If there is too much randomness, too much chaos, then the complex system we call democracy becomes unstable. Then people become more susceptible to demagogues,” says Eliassi-Rad.
“Algorithms can be hugely influential. Transparency is important in this area.”
Born in the US but raised in Iran, Eliassi-Rad says it's important not to limit education and opportunities to one race or gender.
“Talent is everywhere,” says Eliassi-Rad, who recently returned from a small village in Turkey where she taught math and network science to students from developing and underdeveloped countries.
“Our AI technologies are embedded in broader complex systems. To truly understand and mitigate the harms and risks associated with AI, we need to study the broader complex systems in which AI technologies operate,” he says.
“This kind of research requires interdisciplinary teams like the ones supported at Northeastern,” says Eliassi-Rad, who is on the faculty of Northeastern's Network Science Institute and the Institute for Experiential AI.
She says she is “honored and humbled” to receive the 2023 Lagrange Prize from the CRT Foundation.
The Foundation Lagrange Prize-CRT, which comes with an award of €50,000, was awarded in 2011 to Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, network science pioneer and Northeastern physics professor.
According to the CRT Foundation, Eliassi-Rad has promoted “the development of multiple practical applications in both the private world and government agencies” that contribute to the fight against fraud and cybercrime, the search for new therapeutics, and the study of democratic regression as instability in socio-economic and political systems.
Cynthia McCormick Hibbert is a reporter for Northeastern Global News. Email her at c.hibbert@northeastern.edu or connect with her on Twitter @HibbertCynthia.