What does it mean for an AI system to be aligned, and aligned with whom? In this talk, I treat alignment not as a fixed technical property, but as a narrative that spans machine learning research, system design, and public policy. I begin with my work on sycophancy and friction in language models, showing how alignment to user intent can collapse into over agreement, misplaced confidence, and reduced epistemic resilience. I then connect these dynamics to applied systems, including sign language technologies and code generation tools, where alignment choices shape access, productivity, and who ultimately benefits.

"All AI Models Might Be the Same": AI models transform inputs like images and text into high-dimensional vectors called embeddings. Influenced by factors such as architecture, training data, and input modality, these embeddings are model-specific and not directly interoperable. In this talk, we show that—despite these fundamental differences—embeddings across models share significant common geometric structure. — Rishi D. Jha

"Generative AI and Community Resilience: Lessons from Reddit and Independent Working Musicians": Generative AI is flooding online platforms with synthetic content at unprecedented scale. This talk examines how two communities are responding to this disruption: self-moderated forums on Reddit and independent working musicians. Through these case studies, I show that while both communities recognize threats from AI-generated content, they lack adequate technical detection tools, legal protections, and organizational frameworks to respond effectively. — Travis Lloyd

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.

The Digital Life Seminar series offers students and guests an opportunity to engage actively with leading scholars and practitioners researching and responding to the development and application of digital technologies.