The Ethics Institute at MSU
The Ethics Institute serves as the central hub for ethical guidance, collaboration, and community engagement around AI in research, education, and university practices at Michigan State University. From convening the university’s AI Summit to supporting the development of guidelines, research, and faculty working groups, the Institute has led efforts to ensure MSU’s approach to AI is thoughtful, inclusive, and aligned with our institutional values. By bringing together voices from across disciplines, the Ethics Institute fosters dialogue and shapes practices that prioritize equity, responsibility, and innovation in the age of automation.
Evidence Driven Learning Initiative (EDLI)
The Evidence Driven Learning Innovation (EDLI) research center is a collaboration of educators and researchers in the Colleges of Arts and Letters, Business and Natural Science, MSU Libraries, and MSU IT. Our mission is to humanize the digital learning experience and use a values-driven approach to develop and evaluate digital pedagogies and technologies for 21st-century learning.
Center for Education and Emerging Technologies (CEET)
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in STEM education marks a revolutionary shift in pedagogical methods and learning outcomes. AI's role in customizing and enhancing educational experiences is paramount. The Center for Education and Emerging Technologies explores and pushes forward the use of AI in STEM Education.
Michigan State University AI Research (MAIR)
The Michigan State University AI Research (MAIR), housed within the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at Michigan State University (MSU), holds a distinguished position in the dynamic field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). With a rich history of innovation and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology, MAIR provides a hub of creativity and discovery in AI research. Led by a diverse team of renowned experts, MAIR endeavors include a wide range of research domains, spanning biometrics, computer vision, data mining, natural language processing, and machine learning.
Spartan Spotlights
Tara Behrend
John Richard Butler II Endowed Professor at the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, College of Social Science
Tara Behrend is the John Richard Butler II Endowed Professor at the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University. She is currently serving as President of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Her research group, the Workplaces and Virtual Environments Lab, focuses on workplace technologies and their ethical, social, and psychological implications.
Their research focuses on the ways that AI-driven performance metrics for workers can be potentially harmful, and ways to avoid those harms with thoughtful workplace policies. For example, they have shown that police officer body-worn cameras can either help them in serving the community safely and proactively, or cause serious problems with burnout, depending on how the cameras are used by leaders. The research team has also shown that AI feedback during job training can be less anxiety-inducing for some learners, and even potentially erase gender gaps in technical training domains. Currently, they are working on a project to understand how AI use might affect under/overconfidence in entrepreneurs.
Dr. Behrend is a recognized expert in the areas of electronic surveillance and human-AI interactions, speaking regularly with policy makers and other audiences worldwide. Her work is multidisciplinary and has been published in psychology, education, and technology journals.
Recent articles:
- MSU drives conversation, research on the future of work
- Automation Alley: Tara Behrend explains how the MSU Future of Work Initiative Seeks to Help Organizations Adapt to AI, Robotics and More
Profiles:
Learn more about Tara and her work on the College of Social Science website.
