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<\/p>\nAt Northeastern\u2019s Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland and Silicon Valley campuses, Edmunds is redefining computer science as a human-centered discipline.<\/p>\n
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Bethany Edmunds is the new associate dean of computing programs on the West Coast, overseeing Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland and Silicon Valley. Photo by Adam Glanzman for Northeastern University<\/p>\n
Growing up, Bethany Edmunds always looked up to her older brother. When he liked the computer programming classes he was taking in high school, that was enough for her to take them too. Plus, her family had a computer at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m old enough that this was before the PC,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I was comfortable with computers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty years ago in graduate school at Rutgers, Edmunds studied computer science with a focus on machine learning \u2014 a background that now seems tailor-made for her role as Northeastern University\u2019s associate dean of computing programs on the West Coast, where she oversees campuses in Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland and Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n
Teaching on the Vancouver campus, Edmunds says she\u2019s always been mindful that what feels intuitive to her as a computer scientist may not be familiar or accessible to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognized the gaps between technology, academia and the real world,\u201d she says, \u201cmaybe because my parents never finished college, and always wanted to be the bridge to provide a better life for people left behind because of those gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Closing those gaps has always been the mission of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Edmunds says. At Northeastern, the belief that computer science is for everyone means not only that people from all social backgrounds should be developing software, but also that those developers must understand the broader impact of their work.<\/p>\n
This mandate \u2014 to ensure that computer science is not exclusionary and does not create harm \u2014 takes on new urgency in the age of AI, Edmunds says. Artificial intelligence has an impact that people may not always see, she says, and has the power to modify human behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cNortheastern has a really important role to play in making sure that the decisions technologists are making for other people, and the influence that they have on everyday lives, are done knowingly and ethically,\u201d she says. \u201cWe think of it as a math problem, but software actually changes people\u2019s well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of a delegation representing Canada, Edmunds recently returned from Viva Tech, a tech conference in Paris. Before that, she participated in the Web Summit in Vancouver where she provided thought leadership<\/a> on the benefits and risks of AI.<\/p>\n She believes AI systems will be stronger and more equitable when their training data includes a broader range of perspectives beyond those of the majority.<\/p>\n