The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics welcomed back Professor Shannon Vallor, author of The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim our Humanity in an Age of Machine Learning and Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) at the University of Edinburgh, to Santa Clara University as this year’s Regan Lectures keynote speaker on April 29.
Over the course of her presentation, Vallor made a compelling case about what AI could be for human flourishing and intellectual growth, so long as we don’t lose ourselves in the mirrors of the past.
While many view AI as the epitome of the technological future, Vallor explained how the powerful AI products we see today are rather reflections of our past, forged from oceans of data and mathematical equations that contain the same biases, errors, and blindspots we are actively trying to overcome.
Vallor discussed common harmful misconceptions, including the anthropomorphization of AI—descriptions implying it “thinks” and “hallucinates” rather than “calculates” or “fabricates”—and interpretations that classify AI as a separate being, rather than a reflection of our pre-existing knowledge and data: “A reflection of something is not something, just like the reflection of the mind is not the mind, because this reflection can’t think independently,” said Vallor.
Dean’s Executive Professor at the Leavey School of Business and Ethics Center Faculty Scholar Sarah Cabral brought students from her course, Values-Driven Leadership in Silicon Valley, to the event during a week focused on innovation and leadership. “While we have heard the expression ‘move fast and break things’ from technology leaders, The AI Mirror offers a necessary caution to technology leaders concerned about the often unintended but negative harms associated with amplified biases reflected and embedded in AI,” said Cabral.
Sean Tsang ’27, a student attending with Cabral’s course, said, “This talk greatly challenged me to think more deeply about the usage of AI, and I loved what Prof. Vallor mentioned about reflection vs. reality…This statement indeed reminded me of the importance of distinguishing what is real and what is fake based on more well-rounded and logical thinking rather than just our biases.”
Vallor additionally touched on the risks of an overreliance on AI and questions of how to approach protecting the integrity of human thinking. “As a college student in this modern day and age, I recognize that AI is a big part of most students’ lives and their education, so common to the point where using AI is extremely normalized. Prof. Vallor’s talk helped me think deeper about this subject and realize that a heavy usage of AI should not be normalized, as it would only cause more societal issues,” said student Jessica Wang ’28.
“One thought-provoking question I had that stemmed from Prof. Vallor’s presentation was, what would society look like if AI is the norm, in other words if everyone started using AI for everything?” added Wang.
In order to access the full potential of AI, we need to look within ourselves, and confront what the AI mirror is revealing to us.
Access The AI Mirror event recording.
This event was hosted by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and is part of the Regan Lecture Series funded by the New York Life Insurance Company in honor of William Regan III and a gift from Ann and William Regan.
Grace Woidat ’25, communications and French studies major and marketing and communications intern at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, contributed to this story.