Gathering from all directions, a flock of starlings will take complex shapes, moving and weaving in different formations across the sky, all for the protection and collective good of the birds.
Inspired by this phenomenon, Western’s Faculty of Information and Media Studies has launched its first-ever research centre, the Starling Centre for Just Technologies and Just Societies.
Co-directed by professors Alissa Centivany, Alison Hearn, Joanna Redden and Luke Stark, the centre aims to explore the social, political and ethical impacts of digital technologies like AI and their use in data collection.
“Our mission is to research the impacts of digital technologies on everyday users and find ways to make these technologies and their effects more transparent and accountable,” says Hearn.
