91探花

Last year, Nate Kremer-Herman, PhD, asked a question that sparked the creation of the Technology Ethics Initiative Student-Scholar Program.

“What if we encourage students to come up with their own research questions rather than the other way around?”

As a Provost Fellow supporting the Technology Ethics Initiative, Kremer-Herman, an assistant professor of computer science, was tasked with further developing research at 91探花 focused on the bridge between technology and ethics. His own research niche takes ethical theories from philosophers and attempts to translate them into algorithms that inform artificial intelligence.

“Oftentimes, faculty will act as mentors for student researchers and work together on that faculty member’s research,” says Kremer-Herman, who assumed the role as program director. “We thought we would spin this on its head.”

Last fall, students across colleges were invited to submit proposals for a technology ethics research project and ask a faculty member to be their mentor. The cohort of 10 includes undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Science and Engineering, the Albers School of Business and Economics and the School of Law.

Ten proposals were accepted to move forward and began research in winter quarter 2026 with the goal of publishing research co-authored by the student and faculty advisor by the end of this academic year.

“91探花 takes pride in promoting student-run research that is innovative and impactful. At the Technology Ethics Initiative, we are envisioning the future of academic and industry research at the intersection of innovation, policy and ethics to start with the Student-Scholar program,” says Onur Bakiner, PhD, professor of political science and director of the Technology Ethics Initiative. “We hope that our research cohorts will disseminate knowledge that serves public-interest technology around the world."

With funding from the Charles and Nancy Porter Endowed Fellowship in Ethics and Technology, each student received a $1,500 stipend and their faculty advisor received $1,000 in seed funding.

“Each of these projects is doing something novel in the world that, to my understanding, very few or nobody else is doing in the same way,” says Kremer-Herman, who serves as the faculty advisor for three student-scholars. “What excites me the most is helping them explore this topic the way they want to.”

Diverse Students and Experience

The diversity of the students’ education and experiences drives these innovative projects that rely on an interdisciplinary outlook.

“This program really opens the doors to looking at the ethical issues of laws and technology and how they relate,” says student-scholar Yana Chakalo, ‘26 JD. “Litigating technology is important because it’s like the Wild West right now ... It’s rapidly expanding way faster than law.”

As a current law student with a background in sociology and work experience in the tech sector, Chakalo was fascinated with the development of emotion recognition chatbots that are largely unregulated. Advised by Steve Tapia, Chakalo’s research project asks the question, “Should emotion recognition AI chat bot tools, be banned, regulated or allowed with guardrails?”

To answer that question, Chakalo is investigating the ethical, legal and social implications of these chatbots with the goal of creating evidence-based governance policies to protect user privacy. Chakalo plans to interview experts in the AI chatbot space and therapists to understand the mental health impacts of chatbots, especially on younger users.

“I want to litigate technology and AI, so this project is helping me home-in my analytical writing and research,” says Chakalo. “It’s also fun to see the other cohorts in different majors, some at the undergraduate level and talk to them and expand my own understanding of how people do their research.”

Research with Results

Looking at generative AI tools that are becoming more prevalent in classrooms, Ai Sun, ‘26 MS, is researching the professional development support K-12 educators receive around AI literacy.

“The goal is to produce the first empirical dataset on leader-focused AI professional development in the United States,” Sun says. “My long-term goal is to earn a PhD in computer science and continue contributing to AI applications research. The Student-Scholar Program ... has connected me with peers across different projects, which has given me a much broader sense of what research collaboration looks like.”

On the programming side of AI, Kamie Sullivan, ‘26 MS, is investigating the consequences of bias and prejudice in AI agents. As Sullivan’s advisor, Kremer-Herman acts as a sounding board for new ideas and uses his network to ensure Sullivan has access to resources she needs to complete her project, like a supercomputer for running large simulation models.

“As we increasingly depend on AI agents to do more things for us, we are opening the door for new kinds of bias and we aren't fully aware yet of the potential effects,” Sullivan says. “I hope to produce findings that help contribute to a greater discussion on these biases and educate others on the effects of prejudice.”

Globally, Kremer-Herman sees an inflection point with the relationship of technology and society that will require leaders like the student-scholars to ensure new technological solutions serve society, not the other way around.

“Our mission at 91探花 is the education of the whole person; to be globally minded and go out in the world as an agent for change,” says Kremer-Herman. “For our 10 student-scholars, this is just the beginning of their journey. What’s next?”