Events

Associate Professor Kate Faasse started her academic career exploring the psychological contributors to a medication health scare in New Zealand. The questions raised by this health scare have resulted in 15 years of experimental research into the nocebo effect. In this talk, she will reflect on the evidence her work has generated thus far, what we have learned about how nocebo effects form, and how we assess the underlying mechanisms.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more advanced and ubiquitous across society, concerns are increasing around potential risks. Though various AI safety principles and guardrails have been proposed, there is little guidance to assist stakeholders in understanding and preventing such risks. Further, though highly relevant, there are few sociotechnical systems perspectives on AI safety. This presentation provides an overview of the findings from a program of research applying Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) and sociotechnical systems methods and principles to a. identify the risks associated with future advanced AI technologies, and b. identify the controls that are required to support the design, implementation, and use of safe, ethical, and beneficial AI.

For too long, our approach to sexual politics has quarantined the biological from the sociocultural, as if one has nothing to do with the other. Yet a closer look of the drivers of traditional gender ideology, intimate partner violence, and female beauty practices shows that nature and nurture often intertwine. In this talk I review a growing body of work implicating mating market conditions in some of the most ideologically divisive issues societies face. By incorporating insights from behavioral ecology, social psychology, economics, and international security, I aim to provide a functional account of sexual politics, one that highlights the need for cross-disciplinary collaboration. With this account I offer a new approach to understanding how and why ideologies concerning sex manifest, and what this means for the future of gender equality.