AI, Robotics, & Ethics Camp (2025)
The role of ethics in AI and robotics is growing rapidly, and the real experts are often in the humanities, as well as the science fields! Dr. Jesse Butler, Professor of UCA Philosophy and Religious Studies, co-led the AI, Robotics, and Ethics camp again this summer. He is seen leading a discussion with students (above).
Alec Brewer, a Philosophy and English major, and Kaylee Moeri, a Philosophy and Psychology major, served as camp counselors.
Alec talks with camp attendees
Kaylee times participants on her phone
Dr. Will Slaton, Professor and Engineering Physics Coordinator, directs the AI, Robotics & Ethics Camp, and Assistant Professor Lin Zhang of the Department of Physics and Astronomy (bottom right), co-taught the camp. Hosted by the UCA College of Science and Engineering, the one-week program “provides students with hands-on learning opportunities in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics with an emphasis on the moral and ethical dimension of this technology. The camp is fully funded by the Arkansas Department of Education’s Academic Enrichment for Gifted/Talented in Summer (AEGIS) program. During the week, the students learned programming and hardware skills to build and test machine learning algorithms to train and autonomously test-drive a robot car.” The week culminated in a competition where teams built an AI powered self-driving car while considering the philosophical, ethical, and moral issues that come with this technology.