Written By Amanda Mecham
The Social Impacts of Computing 2025: Emerging Technologies and Well-Being workshop was a two day event that took place in August at Boise State University. Organized by the Social Impacts of Computing group, in collaboration with the School for the Digital Future and School of Computing, the workshop brought together faculty, staff, Treasure Valley innovators and industry experts, tech companies, government agencies, and more.
Workshop topics included the use of XR in education technology, data ethics, environmental impacts, AI in healthcare, and a keynote address. Unconferencing sessions produced focus groups that furthered communication. One attendee, Janice Stevenor Dale, architectural advocate and founder of JSDA Inc., said, “Our [organization’s] interest is piqued at the intersection of Data Ethics, AI and Health and Wellness. These topics are critically central to the future”.
Day one: Extended reality in education technology, and data ethics
“Our number one goal here is for attendees to talk to each other. Meet one new person. Generate one new idea,” said Stephen Crowley, Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy.
Beginning on the first day, Lee Mitchell, Research and Innovation Consultant, Extended Studies, and Manuel Gomez-Navarro, Lecturer Instructor of Spanish, World Languages, gave a presentation on extended reality technology and its potential to reshape education.
They explored ways in which XR has the ability to virtually immerse students into the lessons they are learning, while encouraging them to socially engage and communicate. Interactive learning can help students better retain information.
After the presentation, Jerry Fails, Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science, joined Mitchell and Gomez-Navarro for a panel discussion. The panel focused on interacting with an AI agent, Wonda. Wonda specializes in immersive experiences and conversational engagement in XR environments.
Wonda came from Wonda.pro, which is a platform where people can create custom interactive online learning environments with conversational avatars. Over the next year, Boise State will assess the impact Wonda will have on student learning outcomes.
Data Ethics and AI
Ira Burton, Director of the School of Computing, along with Tim Andersen, Associate Dean and Professor of Computer Science, Alan Henson, Vice President at Pariveda, and Rich Stuppy, School of Computing Chief Industry Advisor, opened the afternoon panel discussion by introducing Boise State’s recently established School of Computing.
These days, there can be a prevalent attitude of doom and gloom surrounding AI. Burton says “[The School of Computing] is in my mind Boise State’s response to that doom and gloom. This is how we don’t get that future. We’re going to go make the future that we want”.
The panel also explored how we might foster ethical AI frameworks, as we make our way through trial and error, evolution and cooperation.
Keynote address: AI with empathy
Alice Crisci, Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of Ovum Health, is a cancer survivor. Crisci is also a reproductive health policy advocate. She is responsible for the nation’s first ever fertility preservation bill being passed into law.
Crisci has founded multiple healthcare enterprises, and she created an app that connects over 500 board certified medical professionals to those who have medical questions. She approaches her user’s data with honesty and transparency, and in so doing has created an AI model that exists nowhere else in the world. Her passion for preventing medical misinformation has enabled thousands to access board certified, life-saving intelligence.
Day two: Environmental impacts and healthcare
Amber Bieg, Principal Program Manager for Sustainability Operations at Micron Technology, started off the second day with a presentation on Micron’s commitment to sustainability. Micron is building two new fabrication plants in Boise. The major semiconductor manufacturer is aiming for LEED Gold Certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is the most widely used green building rating in the world.
Bieg was joined by Maryl Fisher, Idaho National Laboratory Senior Energy Analyst, and Omiya Hassan, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor, for a panel discussion on environmental impacts.
Data centers are extremely energy intensive, and demands on declining aquifers raise critical concerns. Wind, solar, and small modular reactors are possible paths being explored to power our growing digital infrastructure.
Difficult decisions lie ahead, even so, Hassan states, “We as academics and as researchers are literally giving this the number one priority. A lot of investment is coming. A lot of funding support is coming just to tackle this problem”.
AI and Healthcare
The afternoon panel discussion on the second day of the workshop was presented by Alice Crisci, Sarah Llewellyn, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Nursing, and Molly Zimmer, who leads the Emerging Technologies team at St. Luke’s. The conversation spoke on artificial intelligence transforming medical notetaking for nurses.
The real-time capture of data can minimize medical record errors and improve accuracy and efficiency. Not everyone is eager about this tool though, many patients fear data privacy concerns. Hospitals are weighing patient concerns with the innovation potential AI documentation has for future patient care.
On the second day in the afternoon, Alice Crisci gave a demonstration to the audience on how to use AI to enhance productivity and efficiency. By creating custom ChatGPT’s, interaction with AI can be tailored into a personal assistant, an exercise management program, or a healthy eating guide. For business use, custom GPT’s can be trained on company-specific data to handle customer service, or take on employee onboarding. With a ChatGPT account, custom AI can be set up in minutes.
About SioC
The Social Impacts of Computing (SioC) community group is focused on understanding and contributing to the ongoing transformation of the relationship between technology and society. They are centered around human flourishing and staying at the forefront of computing, while advocating for ethical frameworks that guide responsible use. By garnering knowledge and insight from many disciplines and schools of thought, SioC can address societal challenges that exist today and arise tomorrow.
SioC includes Boise State faculty from a wide range of disciplines, including data management and visualization, business management, computer science, public policy and administration, philosophy, nursing, history, and cultural studies, as well as industry/community partners with interests in the social impacts of computational innovations, particularly in fields such as machine learning, robotics and generative AI.
For those interested in becoming involved with Boise State University’s Social Impacts of Computing group, please reach out to Edward Ferrier at edwardferrier@boisestate.edu.