AI Ethics in Academic Research: A Session with Dr. Sarah Florini
As artificial intelligence tools become increasingly present in academic research, graduate students face an urgent and evolving challenge: how to use these tools responsibly? On April 23rd, our NRT program will host Dr. Sarah Florini for a professional development session dedicated to exactly this question.
About Dr. Sarah Florini
Dr. Florini is an Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies and the Associate Director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University, where she co-chairs the AI and Ethics Workgroup. Her research focuses on technology, social media, technology ethics, and digital culture, and she is one of ASU’s leading voices on responsible AI use in higher education.
Dr. Florini founded the AI and Ethics Workgroup to serve as a catalyst for critical conversations about the role of AI models in academic and research contexts. She is also currently developing a three-module course on generative AI in scientific research for the CITI Program.
What the Session Will Cover
Date: April 23, 2026
Time: 9:30 – 10:30 AM
Location: ISTB4, Room 492, Tempe Campus
The session is designed specifically for engineering graduate students and trainees with limited prior exposure to AI ethics. Dr. Florini will guide participants through key topics, including:
- Generative AI and transformer-based neural networks: what they are and how they work
- Data privacy: what happens to your data when you use AI tools
- Hallucinations: why AI models produce confident but incorrect outputs, and how to detect them
- Model bias: how training data shapes AI behavior, and what that means for research integrity
The session will follow an interactive format, with mini-talks on each topic followed by opportunities for student questions and discussion. A case study may also be included, time permitting.
Why This Matters for NRT
The NSF NRT program prepares graduate researchers to work at the frontier of interdisciplinary science — and today, that frontier increasingly involves AI tools. Understanding how to use these tools with integrity, critical awareness, and ethical responsibility is not optional. It is an essential part of becoming a well-rounded, responsible researcher. We are grateful to Dr. Florini for bringing her expertise to our NRT community, and we look forward to an engaging and thought-provoking session.