Past Events
2025
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.
Read about the event.
This event was sponsored by Amazon Web Services, Caylent, and Pariveda Solutions, with additional support from Boise State’s College of Innovation and Design and Division of Research and Economic Development.
See the full event schedule.
2025 AI Institute for Teaching & Learning 3-day Workshop
Members of the SioC community are contributing to The School for the Digital Future’s AI Institute. This workshop was for Boise State University faculty and staff, both campus and remote, to join the three‑day 2025 AI Institute for Teaching & Learning, held May 19‑21 in The Space’s Incubator Room (with online access for distance instructors).
Over the workshop, participants developed human-centered, ethical, and foundational AI competencies and modify their course design to improve student engagement which may include integrating AI tools into their pedagogical practices in the 2025‑2026 academic year. By equipping educators with concrete skills and a shared ethical framework, the Institute aims to help teachers grapple with the ethics and articulation of AI tools for teaching and learning.
Panel: AI and the Future of Work
SioC creates an inclusive space for open dialogue on the social impacts of computing, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued. On March 28, 2025, SioC members presented a panel at Hackfort in Boise.
This room was filled with concerned community members and students seeking perspectives on the impact of emerging computing technologies on career sectors and how this impact will affect students and the working community.
AI Scenario Planning Workshop
SioC actively collaborates with local businesses and community organizations to create programs that address the evolving needs of the workforce in a compute-centric world. These partnerships enhance educational opportunities and contribute to regional development. In collaboration with the School of Computing, School for the Digital Future, and College of Innovation and Design, and hosted by Hawley Troxell, the AI Scenario Planning workshop was a two‑hour, invitation‑only session that brought executives, academics, and policymakers together to “pressure‑test” four plausible futures for generative AI by mapping fast‑ vs. slow‑adoption dynamics in both industry and the workforce. Through quadrant‑based breakouts and a plenary debrief, participants identified risks, opportunities, and research priorities—ranging from skills gaps to regulatory hurdles—to inform Idaho’s business, education, and policy strategies for the next decade.
Hangouts!
The SioC Community met bi-weekly throughout the 2024-2025 academic year at various locations. Members from the community, faculty from a wide range of departments, and students came for donuts and unstructured discussions.
Human and Machine Intelligence Course
Ed Ferrier’s Human and Machine Intelligence course featured a series of guest lectures by IT/AI industry partners and Boise State faculty. The lectures discussed real-world applications of current AI tools, the nature of intelligence, the future of AI technologies, and the challenges of integrating human and artificial intelligence. These lectures were open to the community.
Campus Artificial Intelligence Group
Many SioC members are also active in a local AI and cybersecurity group, Unstoppables AI, and host an AI Brown Bag on campus. Read the Campus artificial intelligence group builds real life connections report from April 22, 2025 to learn more.
2024
Social Impacts of Computing 2024 Workshop: AI and the Humanities – Seeking Synergy on June 28 & 29th
SioC 2024 was a two-day workshop designed to enhance communication and collaboration between Treasure Valley IT consumers, creators and faculty and staff from Boise State and other higher ed institutions in the region working on the broad societal implications of new computational technologies (e.g. generative AI, ubiquitous data, virtual and augmented reality etc.). Our term for these societal implications is SioC (the ‘social impacts of computing’). This conversation was enriched by the participation of a number of national experts on the role of the arts, humanities and social sciences in studying SioC, educating students and professionals on SioC and managing SioC.
Day 1 of the workshop was focussed on sharing perspectives, experiences and challenges using the ‘unconference’ format. In an ‘unconference’ participants identify topics they would like to discuss (see the topic suggestion space on the workshop registration page …). Participants then select which identified topics are of most interest to them. These topics became the focus of small breakout groups. Each group will have 60 minutes to talk through the issues however they want, followed by 30 minutes to discuss their results with other groups. They then broke for lunch and a bit of downtime before repeating the topic selection process and discussion. The day concluded with the keynote address by Dr. John Basl, a final 30-minute synthesis of ideas throughout the day (in breakout groups and the keynote), and then dinner/conversation and music.
Day 2 of the workshop focused on three SioC related areas where Boise State faculty are doing important research. The topic areas are:
- Impacts of AI and data on education and knowledge
- The education/industry relationship
- Impacts of ubiquitous data on marginalized communities
Each area was the subject of a panel with two presentations (30 minutes each) followed by 30 minutes of Q&A. The workshop ended with a discussion of what sorts of SioC community building and collaboration have gone well, and what could be done better.
2024 Workshop Testimonials
2024 Workshop Photos
On April 5th 2024, Dr. Farrier facilitated a panel consisting of Dr. Blomquist, Dr. Stelbotsky, and Lorraine Gaudio on “Effective uses of AI for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation”. This was part of the AI in Research and Creative Activity April 2024 Workshop series and at the Graduate Student Open House at Boise State University.
Spring 2024: Love Data Week
The Social Impacts of Computing (SIoC) group and the Library paired up to host a roundtable luncheon in celebration of International Love Data Week.
The theme of the roundtable discussion: Data Justice: Inclusion or Exclusion? aims to explore the motivations and potential harms and benefits for collecting and sharing data. The conversation centered around (a) the implications of living in a datafied society, especially for disenfranchised individuals and communities and (b) how we might rise to the challenge of utilizing data in more conscientious ways.
Fall 2023 Speaker Series
09/11: Dr. Steven Hyde, Management, “A machine learning model for text-based deception detection”
10/02: Brittany O’Meara & Jenny Lawrence, Writing Studies, “Rethinking Writing and Learning in a Generative AI World”
10/30: Dr. Leif Nelson, OIT, “One hundred (+) years of behaviorist technology in education: where is came from and why it persists”
11/13: Dr. Ellie Dworak, Research Data Librarian, “Robot at the Reference Desk”
March 24, 2023 Panel: The Impact of AI on Higher Education
