Category: Articles

IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society
“Al Evolution and Revolution”
September 10-12, 2025
Hosted by Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California

“The apparent indifference of rank-and-file musicians to the invention of the fortepiano may well be because it was principally identified as an invention [novelty] of rather than importance. To all but those most closely associated with its actual construction, the fortepiano was in the first instance an invention for its own sake. There was no practical mandate for it use.”

SSIT expressed gratitude at their August 2025 Board of Governors meeting to Lew Terman, who stepped down as IEEE SSIT Secretary after 16 distinguished years in the role.

Clinton Andrews, a Past-President of SSIT, has been recognized with the IEEE PES Robert Noberini Distinguished Contributions to Power Engineering Professionalism Award.

While the Middle Ages is an important point of reference for virtually all aspects of modern “civilization,” the culture of computing stands out for how enthusiastically it has embraced its memories of medieval European culture.

The SSIT Nominations & Appointments Committee is opening a second call for the position of President-Elect.

Prof.  Moshe Y. Vardi, an IEEE-SSIT Distinguished Lecturer, has received the IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award in Honor of the Women of ENIAC.

We examine social media’s profound influence, delving into its effects on self-esteem, media consumption habits, and exposure to targeted marketing.

The IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society has appointed Prof. George Roussos and Assistant Professor Jordan Richard Schoenherr as the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) and the Co-EIC, respectively, beginning in January 2026.

The choices for development, roads, trains, and transport are just as essential to the social impacts of technology as the technologies themselves.

CUCCR approaches solid waste by harnessing data collection to understand the waste flows within the university, using a tucked-away basement space to give waste materials a chance to pause and potentially be repurposed before being landfilled or recycled.

Over 150 scholars and practitioners from industry, academia, government, and civil society gathered at IEEE ETHICS 2025 to examine questions of ethics and social justice in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

SSIT is participating in the IEEE Digital Privacy Initiative, a program under IEEE Future Directions that “focuses on a user-centric perspective—looking at the digital privacy needs of the individuals rather than the security of data, products, and organizations—such as providing individuals with user-enabled privacy controls and promoting privacy at the outset of product and service lifecycles.”

The IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) Chapters Committee announces a Call for Proposals to organize impactful events and activities that explore and address the intersection of technology and society.

Research has shown that cognitive training done on computers results in modest learning gains with the potential to minimize cognitive decline in older adults. Indifferent attitudes toward the chatbot on the part of participants suggest that developers need to adopt a different approach in designing a more interactive and human-like experience, as older adults may have unique preferences and requirements compared to more tech-savvy users.

We should remember that the smartphone’s persuasive power-though generated through interactions with the device itself-is, at base, due to the very human intentions embedded within the device’s design and functionalities.

In the future, maps may be a continual feed of location-based video preserved in 3-D—and overlaid with semantic layers that indicate place, tell stories, and connect to social networks—to create an augmented reality.

In my teaching, I gained insight into some of the ethical dilemmas posed by science and technology but also into the dual nature of the typical student’s response to technology—while they held technology in awe, they also had a sense of alienation from it.

Given the urgency of the climate crisis, wealth and income inequality and affordability, and ongoing global conflicts and genocide, along with the erosion of centuries of democratic norms, it is imperative that academics stand up for their research and its practical applications.

Joseph Carvalko has won the 2024 white paper prize “To Recognise Excellence In AI Research” for the paper, “Generative AI, Ingenuity, and Law,” published in the June 2024 issue of the IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society.