Daniel Schiff

Daniel Schiff, PhD was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, and completed his PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Public Policy, where he studied the governance and social implications of artificial intelligence. Daniel is currently an Assistant Professor of Technology Policy at Purdue University's Department of Political Science and is currently on industry leave serving as Lead for Responsible AI at JP Morgan Chase & Co.

(For up to date information, please see https://danielschiff.com/)

As a policy scientist with a background in philosophy, Daniel's studies the formal and informal governance of AI through policy and industry, as well as AI's social and ethical implications in domains like education, manufacturing, finance, and criminal justice. His interdisciplinary and mixed methods research addresses topics such as industry standards and organizational practices for AI ethics, public and elite opinion and influence dynamics in the policy process, the development of social responsibility attitudes amongst future computing and engineering professionals, and the role of the public in governing emerging technologies. Much of his work and publications have been interdisciplinary in theory and method, involving collaborations with philosophers, computer scientists, political scientists, and other technical and social science scholars. Daniel's work lies at the intersection of policy, technology, and society, with special attention to social and ethical implications for historically marginalized and vulnerable groups.

At Purdue, Daniel is co-director of GRAIL, the Governance and Responsible AI Lab, where he focuses on fostering research collaborations to study AI's social, policy, and ethical implications. His work also includes the development of interdisciplinary coursework focused on technology, policy, and ethics, and he maintains a key interest in engaging with members of the public, stakeholders in civil society and industry, and policymakers.

Previously, Daniel served as the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Planning at the Philadelphia Education Fund. His work emphasized school- and district-level policy and program strategies for urban contexts. In particular, Daniel's research and policy efforts focused on teaching and learning, dropout prevention, college and career readiness, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).He studied Philosophy at Princeton University, focusing on robotics and intelligent systems and AI ethics, before completing a Master’s in Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

He has published in venues such as Public Administration, Technology in Society, AI & Society, the International Journal of AI in Education, IEEE Transactions on Technology & Society, the Journal of Engineering Education, the AMA Journal of Medical Ethics, and Nanotechnology and can be reached at dschiff@purdue.edu or @dan_schiff.

Past and present interests/projects include:

• The landscape of global AI ethics codes, principles, and policy strategies
• How competing stakeholders and issue frames surrounding AI are shaping AI policy agenda-setting
• The impact of automation and AI on worker well-being
• Development of social responsibility attitudes amongst STEM undergraduates
• Public and elite attitudes toward AI in government services (e.g., child welfare and criminal justice)
• The impact of misinformation about misinformation on politician support and trust in media
• An agony-based distance approach to identification of coalition preferences in organizations
• How AI policy strategies internationally address the implications of AI for education
• The social and policy implications of AI-based virtual teaching assistants
• The role of teachers in intelligent tutoring systems
• Regulation of autonomous vehicles
• Graduate experience and workforce outcomes of people in ethically contentious fields
• Implications of AI for healthcare ethics