“The times they are a-changin”*: from transparency, to safety and scientific integrity, how is the race to AGI changing our scientific values?
August 21, 2026 @ 10:00 – 11:00 CEST
Heidi Howard
NBIS and SciLifeLab Data Centre arrange an open SciLifeLab AI Seminar Series aimed at knowledge-sharing about Artificial Intelligence and applications in the Life Science community. The seminar series is open to everyone. The seminar is run over Zoom on the third Friday of the month during academic terms, typically between 10 and 11 am, with approx. 45 min presentation and 15 min discussion.
When: August 21, 10:00-11:00
Where: Zoom http://meet.nbis.se/ainw
Speaker: Heidi Howard
Senior Researcher, Industrial Biotechnology, Chalmers and ELSI lead at Scilifelab and DDLS
Abstract
The general question I am currently working on is: where do values like transparency, accountability, scientific integrity, replicability of science, respect for copyright, respect for privacy, and respect for the planet fit into the current rush to develop Artificial General Intelligence?
It does not take graduate work in ethics to see that in the last four years since OpenAI launched GPT-3.5 and that a number of other big and not-so-big players have spent loads of money, time, and GPUs/CPUs on developing large language models (LLMs, some supposedly on their way to AGI), that these values are being eroded. Many (most?) of the decisions are being taken by a few companies holding an inordinate amount of power, and these shifts are potentially being normalised by expert and lay publics who may not know or feel they have any influence to push against the wave of change. Based on examples taken from past (public) work developing evaluations of large language models for bioweapons information risks and some of my current work on the public discourse around the benefits and risks of developing A(G)I, this presentation will address scientific and ethical details that are easily overlooked in the current A(G)I rush.
*song title by Dylan B/Zimmerman RA. The Times they are a-changin’, 1964,
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