Tech & Society Week

—

MONDAY – March 23 
—
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Governance of Companion Robots
Details: Meet the robots! Join a special panel of scholars from Georgetown University and Kyoto University to discuss their project on Governance of Companion Robots, AI-driven physical devices that directly engage human emotions, cognition and behavior. The panel will explain governance flashpoints around companion robots, explore regulatory responses, and share results of research on AI and robots using brain measurements (fMRI) and surveys. PIs are Anupam Chander and Laura DeNardis and researchers from Kyoto University. Grant provided by the Tech & Public Policy program in the McCourt School of Public Policy. 
Hosts: Center for Digital Ethics, Institute for Technology Law & Policy 
Location: Fisher Colloquium, Hariri Building (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

4:30 PM – 6:30 PM | Tech & Society Week Opening Reception
Details: Georgetown University kicks off our annual Tech & Society Week with an Opening Reception that brings together the innovative ideas and leaders shaping the future of technology and public life. Discover the dynamic work unfolding across campus at the intersection of technology, policy, ethics, and innovation throughout the week. Meet the students, faculty, center and department leaders driving this work forward — and connect with collaborators and partners from across sectors who are building what’s next.
Host: Tech & Society
Location: Hilltop Campus
Registration: This event is invite-only.

—
TUESDAY – March 24
—

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Grand Rounds:  A Showcase for Student Research and Projects from Across the Georgetown Tech & Society Curriculum
Details: Bringing together students and faculty for a dynamic, fast-paced showcase of ideas and research, this year’s Grand Rounds event will feature a series of short (6-minute) student “elevator pitch” presentations drawn from schools and departments on both the Hilltop and Capitol Campuses. The goal is to spotlight the breadth of Georgetown’s tech-and-society curriculum, celebrate student work, highlight innovative pedagogy, and surface connections across disciplines by placing diverse methodologies and topics in conversation with one another. 
Host: Institute for Technology Law & Policy 
Location: Gewirz 12 – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to Georgetown community members.

10:00AM – 12:30 PM | Maternal Health by Design: Reimagining Systems to Better Support Families
Details: Maternal health outcomes in the U.S. remain unacceptably poor. While there is no shortage of commitment or innovation, many of the biggest barriers are structural: fragmented systems, limited data visibility, inconsistent funding, and services that are difficult for families to navigate. This convening will bring together a select group of maternal health leaders and subject matter experts to co-create bold transformative ideas that can impact the lives of women, children, and families, now. 
Host: Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation
Location:  Capitol Campus
Registration: This event is invite-only.

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | HOYA AI – Georgetown Alums Discuss the Future of Artificial Intelligence 
Details: Prominent Georgetown alums join Professor DeNardis in the Cybersecurity & Society class. A great networking opportunity for students and an opportunity to explore the economic and societal implications of emerging AI technologies.  
Host: Communication, Culture & Technology Program,  Center for Digital Ethics, Tech, Ethics, and Society Program (TES)  
Location: Reiss 112 Lecture Hall – Hilltop Campus
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

—
WEDNESDAY – MARCH 25
—

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Does Practice with AI Make Perfect? A Conversation with Firm Lawyers Using AI in Client Representation
Details: As part of the Georgetown AI and the Legal Profession (GAILP) Initiative housed within the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, Georgetown Law Professor Daniel Wilf-Townsend will moderate an engaging panel featuring four practicing attorneys who will share how they incorporate artificial intelligence into their daily legal work. The discussion will offer practical insights into how AI tools are transforming research, drafting, case strategy, and client services across different practice areas. Attendees can expect a candid conversation about the opportunities, ethical considerations, and real-world challenges of integrating AI into modern legal practice.
Host: Institute for Technology Law & Policy 
Location: Hotung Dining Room – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM | Gnovicon
Details: Join us for the Spring 2026 Gnovicon, celebrating gnovis Georgetown University’s only peer-reviewed, student-run academic journal dedicated to graduate research on technology and society, housed within the Department of Communication, Culture & Technology. The conference will bring together students, faculty, and professionals to critically examine the role of interdisciplinary research in today’s evolving tech landscape, featuring student paper presentations, a faculty panel, a poster session, and an avatar exhibit. Attendance is free and lunch will be provided.
Host: Communication, Culture & Technology Program
Location: McShain Lounge, McCarthy Hall- Hilltop Campus
Registration: Gnovicon Registration  This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | The New Bio Frontier: Creating an Ecosystem for a Healthy and Secure Future
Details: From CRISPR innovations fueling medical advances to biomanufacturing critical materials to AI-enabled tools unlocking new discoveries at the forefront of health science, biotechnology sits at the center for the next generation of U.S. innovation. Building robust innovation hubs and supporting the field’s foundational infrastructure will fuel U.S. global competitiveness and security. 

Join us on March 25 for a fireside chat with IQT’s Vice President of Technology, Dr. Jessica Dymond, to discuss the current state of emerging biotechnology, the promises it holds, and the steps that policymakers, investors, and practitioners can take to build a robust biotechnology sector. 
Host: Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Location: 500 First 9th Floor (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVPThis event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM | Tech & Society Trivia Night
Details: Join us for a Tech & Society Trivia Night! Test your knowledge with questions covering tech & society topics as well as Georgetown’s own Tech & Society Initiative. Come with your team, join one when you arrive or compete as an individual. Prizes and giveaways for the winners.
Host: Tech & Society
Location: McShain Lounge, McCarthy Hall- Hilltop Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to Georgetown community members.

5:30 PM – 8:30 PM | Making AI Work for the People
Details: This two-part panel discussion explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and democracy from American and global perspectives. The first session features speakers  discussing U.S. regulatory approaches to AI that protect American democratic institutions while the second brings together international stakeholders—including UN representatives and civil society organizations—to examine AI’s impact on democracy worldwide. The event aims to bridge policy, technology, and governance communities in addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing democratic societies today. Light refreshments will be provided between panels. 
Hosts: Georgetown University’s Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Citizenship (AIDC) and Georgetown’s Democracy Initiative
Location: 125 E. St MCC Auditorium – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

—
THURSDAY – March 26
—

9:00am – 11:30am | Web Scraping and the Future of the Open Web in the AI Age
Details: This morning session of panels and short talks will address the future of online publishing and open access to data in the face of increasing automated data collection by and for AI services.  Co-hosted by the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, and Georgetown Law’s Intellectual Property Information Policy Clinic, with support from the Wikimedia Foundation.
Hosts: Institute for Technology Law & Policy, Intellectual Property and Information Policy Clinic, Center for Democracy & Technology 
Location: Gewirz 12 – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

10:00 AM  – 11:30 AM | Designing for Democracy: Social Media Feeds in a Hyper-Polarized World
Details: Organized by the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) for Georgetown’s Tech & Society Week, this panel will examine the relationship between algorithmic design and social and political polarization. As politics has become more partisan, hostile, and at times antidemocratic, observers often point to social media algorithms, particularly those designed to maximize user engagement, as a radicalizing force that pushes people toward more extreme content. At the same time, researchers are working to better understand the complicated relationship between social media use and growing social divisions. This panel brings together two leading scholars of social media and polarization, Tiziano Piccardi (Johns Hopkins University) and Nejla Asimovic (Georgetown University), to explore how algorithms and social context interact in a hyper-polarized world.
Host: Knight-Georgetown Institute
Location: 500 1st Street NW, 9th floor – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

12:00 PM – 1:45 PM | Roundtable Discussion: AI and Democracy
Details: This roundtable aims to gather the Georgetown community to reflect on the intersections between AI and Democracy.  The event builds and expands on a two-panel event taking place the previous evening, “Making AI Work for the People.” Following brief opening remarks from a small panel, attendees will engage in an open discussion, exploring key themes, unanswered questions, and implications for research, policy, and pedagogy relating to AI and democracy. The roundtable offers an opportunity to deepen the previous evening’s conversation in a smaller, more intimate setting and to consider how Georgetown — given its unique position in the nation’s capital — can advance scholarship and practice at the intersection of AI and democratic governance. Lunch will be served.

Hosts:  Georgetown’s Democracy Initiative and Georgetown University’s Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Citizenship (AIDC)

Location: Social Room, Healey Family Student Center – Hilltop Campus

Registration: COMING SOON This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Book Event – Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice
Details: A special book event with author Tom Williams discussing his new work Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice. Hosted by the Center for Digital Ethics and the Department of Communications, Culture, and Technology and moderated by Prof. Laura DeNardis, Director of the Center for Digital Ethics. .
Host: Center for Digital Ethics, Communication, Culture & Technology Program
Location: Car Barn 311 – Hilltop Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | “Digital Detention” film screening
Details: The Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law hosts a screening of the documentary “Digital Detention.” The film unveils a booming industry in the surveillance of immigrants, where GPS monitors and facial recognition apps turn migrants and asylum-seekers into data for profit. The film exposes the personal and societal impacts of this new form of control using invasive technologies, highlighting the stories of asylum-seekers living under constant surveillance in Austin, Texas, a city transformed by the tech boom. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Carolina Sanchez-Boe (director and professor at Brown, Paris) and Denise Gilman (visiting professor at Georgetown Law/UT Austin), moderated by Marianna Poyares (The Privacy Center).
Host: Center on Privacy & Technology
Location: 125 E Street, NW, 9th floor – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Our Environment: What AI Means for the Planet
Details: Join GREEN (Georgetown Renewable Energy and Environmental Network) for a fireside chat on AI and its role in the environment! We’ll be joined by professors from the Computer Science department, the Earth Commons, and experts in tech policy and ethics. Together, we’ll discuss AI’s potential uses and consequences for the ways we study, protect, and live in our environment. 
Host: GREEN, Massive Data Institute, Department of Computer Science
Location: Bulldog Alley, Leavey Center – Hilltop Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Tech Policy Happy Hour
Details: Tech Policy Happy Hour (TPHH) is a monthly gathering of folks working at the intersection of technology, law, and policy. We’re advocates, policymakers, academics, journalists, and everything in between. 
Host: Tech & Society
Location: Dirty Habit Restaurant and Bar: 555 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
Registration: No registration is required.This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM | The Problem of AI: Curriculum and Inquiry in the College of Arts & Sciences
Details: The College of Arts & Sciences will host ‘The Problem of AI’, a conversation on how CAS is approaching the questions AI raises and how to develop curriculum to prepare students to engage these issues thoughtfully and deliberately. Dean David Edelstein will moderate the panel discussion and an open Q&A. Panelists include Professors Laura DeNardis, Mark Fisher, Nathan Hensley, and Lisa Singh. 
Host:  Department of Computer Science, Massive Data Institute, College of Arts & Sciences 
Location: Copley Lounge – Hilltop Campus
Registration: Registration is encouraged, but not required. This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

—
FRIDAY – March 27
—

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Fritz Family Fellows Conference: Interdisciplinary research at Georgetown University
Event Details: The Fritz Family Fellows Program is a cross-campus collaboration that aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders. The fellowship program leverages expertise in the social impacts of technology, and builds a network of public interest researchers and technologists who learn from and support each other’s work. The annual Fritz Family Fellowship Conference is a celebratory event during which fellows will have the opportunity to present their research to the Georgetown community, as well as reflect on the interdisciplinary aspect of their research experiences.
Host: Tech & Society
Location: 500 1st Street NW, 9th floor – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | AI, Technology, and Children
Details: This event will explore the impacts that AI and technology have on children’s development, care and protection.  The session will highlight the most specific and current threats, identify promising interventions designed to address harmful impact and/or better understand the developmental impacts, and serve as an open invitation for collaboration and integration of children’s issues for other researchers or interventions.  
Host: The Collaborative for Global Children’s Issues  
Location: HFSC Hermon Room – Hilltop Campus
Registration: Link forthcoming — This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Georgetown Wikipedia Edit-a-thon 
Details: Join the Georgetown community to help close this gender gap on Wikipedia by increasing the representation of underrepresented groups — in both Wikipedia content and contributors — on topics such as women in politics, women in STEM, and women in the arts.
Host: Massive Data Institute,Institute for Technology Law & Policy,Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation
Location: Office of Student Equity and Inclusion, Garden Level of Healey Family Student Center (Please note this location is wheelchair accessible) (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: Event Webpage — This event is open to the Georgetown community and the general public.

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM Student Movie Night: Love in the Time of Algorithms
Details: What happens when love meets artificial intelligence? Join us for an evening screening of Her—a thought-provoking film about connection, consciousness, and companionship in a digital age. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in healthcare, relationships, and everyday life, this film invites us to ask: Can machines love? Can we? And what does it mean for intimacy, autonomy, and personhood when technology begins to feel human? We’ll provide pizza and sodas—you bring your curiosity. After the film, stay for a relaxed, student-centered discussion exploring themes of AI, emotion, identity, and the future of human relationships.
Host: Tech, Ethics, and Society Program (TES),  Ethics of Health and AI Initiative
Location:  HFSC Film Room 
Registration: This event is open to Georgetown students.

—
SUNDAY – March 29
—

9:00 AM – 8:00 PM | MDI & Bright Data Datathon
Details: Join the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute (MDI), Bright Data Initiative by Bright Data, and IBM, for an exclusive one-day Datathon for Democracy on March 29th. We will begin with foundational training and guide participants through applied investigation and analysis, working in teams to analyze real-time data from platforms such as X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit. Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to participate. 
Host: Massive Data Institute
Location: 125 E St NW – Capitol Campus
Registration: RSVP  — This event is open to Georgetown community-members.

Monday (March 17)
10:30 AM – 3:00 PM | Gnovicon 25
Event Details: 2025 marks 25 years since the launch of gnovis, Georgetown University’s only peer-reviewed, student-run academic journal dedicated to graduate research on technology and society, housed within the Communication, Culture & Technology program. The editorial board is excited to celebrate this milestone at our Spring 2025 conference, which will bring together students, faculty, and professionals to reflect and discuss the role of interdisciplinary research in the midst of today’s tech revolution. The conference will feature student panel sessions, an interdisciplinary faculty panel, and a special poster session. Attendance is free and lunch will be provided.
Host: gnovis at the Communication, Culture & Technology Program
Location: Social Room, Healey Family Student Center* (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: RSVP —This event is open to the general public.

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM | AI Hazards: Understanding AI Incidents
Event Details: A tension exists — AI tools can be used to improve lives, but AI tools can also be used to cause harm. How might we improve AI safety to reduce the number of harms taking place? Join a conversation with a panel of experts in technology, policy, and law to discuss different harms that have occurred and offer directions for improving AI safety for all. Panelists will dive into a discussion on AI incidents including definitions, work being done to capture and analyze harms, discuss what gaps exist, and impacts on our daily life. Following the panel there will be reception with the panelists.
Host: Massive Data Institute, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Center for Digital Ethics
Location: Fisher Colloquium* (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Welcome Reception
Event Details: Join us for a celebration kicking off our fourth annual Tech & Society Week—a week-long series of events across the Georgetown campus, exploring issues at the nexus of technology + society.
Host: Tech & Society
Registration: This event is invite-only.

Tuesday (March 18)
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | The Rise of Consumer Protection Claims Against Digital Platforms
Event Details: Recent years have seen a growing wave of consumer protection litigation focused on harms alleged to arise from the design of social media platforms. While platforms have historically enjoyed broad Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and First Amendment protections, legal decisions have become increasingly nuanced. This discussion will take stock of how courts across the US are grappling with pressing and novel questions related to platform liability and design. Bringing together leading experts – including litigators, advocates, and academics – the panel will highlight current cases and discuss how the social media litigation landscape may evolve in the years ahead.
Host: Knight-Georgetown Institute, Institute for Technology Law & Policy
Location: Classroom 750, 500 1st St NW* (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM |Generative AI & Safety-Critical Systems: Connecting Research to Policy
Event Details: Join us for a conversation with professor and international expert and leader in the field of autonomous systems Missy Cummings, PhD.
Host: Center for Digital Ethics, Department of Computer Science
Location: Multipurpose Room, Arrupe Hall* (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: No RSVP required — This event is open to the general public.

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM | Copyright v. AI in the European Union
Event Details: Join the Tech Institute for a lecture on artificial intelligence and copyright in the European Union by Matthias Leistner, Professor Civil Law and Intellectual Property Law with Information and IT-Law at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. The first EU-wide judgment on the copyright issues involved in training AI, the Regional Court of Hamburg’s judgment in the Laion case, provides some valuable initial guideposts on the interpretation of the EU’s copyright exception for text and data mining, but many questions – including the issue of territoriality – remain. In response, the EU has passed the AI Act, effectively requiring AI companies to comply with certain regulatory duties around transparency and the establishment of a policy to respect EU copyright law. The private enforceability of this new framework and its international effects raise further intricate questions in the global regulatory landscape. This presentation will try to disentangle these different instruments and their interaction,  propose some tentative answers and, finally, draw a larger policy perspective on the future of copyright regulation of AI training in the EU. This event is part of the Global TechNet Working Group’s AI Governance Series.
Host: Institute for Technology Law & Policy
Location: 125 E St NW* (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

Wednesday (March 19)
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Reckoning with the Evolving Social Media Landscape
Event Details: The last five years have witnessed profound changes to the social media ecosystem, including the rise of upstart platforms like TikTok and Bluesky and the transformation of established ones like Twitter (now X). Leading experts Renée DiResta (Georgetown University), Sean Martin McDonald (Digital Public), Samantha Lai (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), and Prithvi Iyer (Tech Policy Press) will reckon with this evolving social media landscape, its consequences for our everyday lives, and what the future may hold.
Host: Knight-Georgetown Institute
Location: Leavey Program Room* (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

3:30 PM – 5:30 PM | Global Perspectives on AI and the Law
Event Details: The Tech Institute is hosting a series of rapid talks on the future of AI policy in different countries and regions, presented by lawyers and technologists pursuing graduate studies. This event will feature the research of our experts who have experience working in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Canada, and the United States. Drawing from their expertise, these presentations will cover new AI issues arising in data privacy, labor rights, healthcare, and international legal frameworks.
Host: Institute for Technology Law & Policy
Location: 125 E St NW* (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

Thursday (March 20)
2:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
Event Details: AI offers opportunities to enhance environmental regulations enforcement, but also risks infringing upon individuals’ privacy in the process. The Tech Institute will host two panel discussions with environmental law attorneys, policy experts, and professors about the possibilities of AI in environmental law. The first panel will discuss the benefits of AI, such as the ability to ensure regulatory compliance by tracking illegal deforestation and pollution. The second panel will look at the possible risks, such as the ability to use this AI technology to intrusively monitor individuals and businesses.
Host: Institute for Technology Law & Policy
Location: Gewirz 12* (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM | AI Arms Race? Semiconductors, Strategy, and Security
Event Details: Join us for a panel discussion exploring the intersection of semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and industrial policy in the context of global competition. As the U.S. navigates an increasingly complex geopolitical and economic landscape, semiconductor strategy and AI development have become pivotal to national security, economic resilience, and technological leadership. This discussion will examine critical policy challenges, including the feasibility of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing autonomy, the strategic risks of dependence on Taiwanese chip production and the implications of China’s rapid advancements in AI, particularly with the emergence of DeepSeek.
Host: Georgetown National Defense Policy Initiative (NDPI), Georgetown Tech Policy Initiative (GTPI), McCourt Economic Policy Hub (MEPH)
Location: Room 440, 125 E St NW* (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to members of the Georgetown community.
Friday (March 21)
9:30 AM – 4:00 PM | Fritz Family Fellows Conference
Event Details: The Fritz Family Fellows Program is a cross-campus collaboration that aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders with expertise in the social impacts of technology, and build a network of public interest technologists who learn from and support each other’s work. The annual Fritz Family Fellowship Conference is a celebratory event during which fellows will have the opportunity to present their research to their communities, as well as reflect on their research experiences.
Host: Tech & Society
Location: Capitol View Convening Space, 9th Floor, 125 E St NW* (Capitol Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Georgetown Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Event Details: Join the Georgetown community to help close this gender gap on Wikipedia by increasing the representation of underrepresented groups — in both Wikipedia content and contributors — on topics such as women in politics, women in STEM, and women in the arts.
Host: Massive Data Institute, Institute for Technology Law & Policy, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation
Location: Office of Student Equity and Inclusion, Garden Level of Healey Family Student Center* (Hilltop Campus)
Registration: RSVP — This event is open to the general public.