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Dr. Aaron McKain, M.S.L.

AI Ethics, Law, & Policy

press | research | publications
trainings I civic engagement

AI ETHICS: PRESS & VICTORIES

AI ethics and legal solutions for 
teachers, lawyers, programmers,
policymakers, citizens, and advocates.

Simple.  Proven.  Bi-partisan.  

  • Catalyzes civic engagement and curate under-served community voices by translating complex issues into easy-to-understand:
     

    • Local, national, and international art exhibitions and installations;

    • Academic research and publications;

    • Educational materials for attorneys, teachers; citizens, and advocates.

      Our own body of work is motivated by the same goals that guide our exhibitions of other artists' work.  We want to use aesthetic experiences as a means of engaging the general public with digital and biomedical harms that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye or too bogged down in esoteric jargon.

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Digital Rights are Civil Rights: Race and Tech

International juried art exhibition and civic forum.
Minneapolis, MN and online.  February 2021.

The murder of George Floyd made it clear to the world that systemic racism is a life or death issue for people of color in our country.  This issue has only become more pressing in light of recent technological developments:  racist facial recognition software; predictive policing programs that target minorities;  and discriminatory algorithms (in employment, healthcare, education, and criminal justice) that violate our privacy, threaten free speech, and replace human judgment with encoded systemic inequity.
​

Thank you to our partners;

ACLU MN; Native Youth Arts Collective; North Central University; the Institute for Digital Humanity; the POSTME Coalition; and City Councilman Steve Fletcher. 

Digital Rights Are Civil Rights: Race and Tech

International juried art exhibition and civic forum.
Minneapolis, MN and online.  February 2021.
 

In partnership with:

The Institute for Digital Humanity 
The Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy

ACLU Minnesota
Native Youth Arts Collective;
North Central University
Post ME Coalition
Councilman Steve Fletcher (Minneapolis, MN)

Plugging In:
Tech & Surveillance

Art and Community Education Event
Minneapolis, MN and Online.  October 2021.
​

In partnership with: 
 

ACLU Minnesota I Reclaim the Block
The Institute for Digital Humanity

Safety Not Surveillance  I  Post ME
Tulane Valley Creates (Portland, OR)

Councilman Simon Troutman (Richfield, MN)

Councilman Steve Fletcher (Minneapolis, MN)

PARTNERS, INITIATIVES
& VICTORY HIGHLIGHTS

ACLU MINNESOTA
  ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE 
LITTLE EARTH NATIVE HUD COMMUNITY 
CODED BIAS (NETFLIX)   
BYTES MEDIA

TAKE ACTION MINNESOTA
 MN LEGAL RIGHTS CENTER
CIVIC NEBRASKA 
 MN EQUAL JUSTICE RESEARCH CENTER
 MN DEPT. OF HEALTH

SAFETY NOT SURVEILLANCE
 GUNS DOWN, LOVE UP
 PROTECT MN

SECOND CHANCE COALITION 
 URBAN EDUCATORS
RECLAIM THE BLOCK
ACLU NEBRASKA 

​

EDUCATION AND TRAININGS
NORTH CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
INDIANA UNIVERSITY: OSTROM WORKING GROUP 

 HAMLINE UNIVERSITY  

CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY
 UNIV OF WISCONSIN: LA CROSSE

 ST. PAUL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

IOWA BAR ASSOCIATION

 NEBRASKA BAR ASSOCIATION 
DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF LITERACY NARRATIVES
 NORTH SUBURBAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS 
NORTHEAST SCULPTURE GALLERY
 

​

​

MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
 STEVE FLETCHER

ABDI WARSAME 

LATRISHA VETAW

PHILIPE CUNNINGHAM 
 

SAINT PAUL CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

MITRA JILALI 

NELSIE YANG 

RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
SIMON TRAUTMANN

MINNESOTA STATE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES & SENATORS

 PEGGY SCOTT 

  SCOTT LUCERO 

DR. STEVE JENSEN 

JEREMY MUNSON 
 

RESEARCH & CONSULTING

Award-winning AI ethics solutions.

And solutions for AI ethics solutions.

Tech companies, schools, and politicians don't know how to fix it in time. 

But we do.

  • "Using the Lens of Narrative Theory

    to Rethink Digital Ethics"
    International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference. 
    Proceedings.  (Forthcoming)
    With Marci Exted and Thomas Freeman

    Winner: 
    Primeaux Award for Best  Paper
    (First Runner-Up)

    Principles of Digital Law and Ethics
    CPI TechREG Chronicle.
     Special Issue on Machine Learning. 

    Feb 2023
    w/ Thomas Freeman, Samson Hall

    "A Primer on Digital
    and Data Science Ethics.    " 
    Nebraska Lawyer. 

    Sept/Oct 2022
    w/ Thomas Freeman, Samson Hall

    ​

    “Criminal Conviction By Algorithms  Are Ruining Innocent Lives.” 

     Omaha World Herald.  August 29, 2021
    w/ Thomas Freeman and Elizabeth Otto.   
     

    “The Legal Implications of Algorithmic Decision-Making.” 
    Nebraska Lawyer.  May/June 2020

    w/ Thomas Freeman and Samson Hall.


    As Technology Evolves, So Will the Law, and So Must Attorneys,
    Nebraska Lawyer. July/August 2019
    w/ Thomas Freeman 
     

    “I Want to Party With You Cowboy: Stephen Colbert and Campaign

    2016’s Aesthetic Logic of Truthiness.” 
    The Joke is On Us: Political Comedy in (Late) Neoliberal Times. 
    Julie Webber-Collins, Ed.  With Thomas Lawson

    Lexington Press, 2019. 

    Fear and Loathing in the New Media Era: How to Realign Our Rhetorical Judgments
    for the Post-Postmodern, Digital Media Age    .

    Dissertation. 
    Ohio State University, 2012.  

  • INVITED ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS & CONFERENCES

    “Using the Lens of Narrative Theory to Rethink Digital Ethics." 

    International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference. 

    With Marci Exted and Thomas Freeman.  
    October 2022

    Winner: Primeaux Best Paper Award. 
    (Runner-Up.)

     

    “Privacy 3.0: Using Narrative Theory to Reframe Health Data Sanctity.”  

    Inaugural Transatlantic Dialogue on Humanity and AI Regulation.

    Hosted by HEC Paris.  Paris, France. 

    May 2022
     

    Reported on in Forbes:  
    “Regulating Global Intelligence: Is Global Consensus Possible"
    September 9, 2022

     

    “Privacy 3.0: Using Narrative Theory to Forgive, Forget, and Re-Program Digital Dignity.” 

    Data, Law, and AI Ethics Research Colloquium.

    With Thomas Freeman. Organizers: Indiana University, Virginia Tech,

    and University of Pennsylvania. 

    Online.  April 2022 

     

    “Triangulating Hate Speech and Free Speech in Algorithmic Environments.” 

    Indiana University.

    Bloomington, IN: April 2022  (Online.)

    “Algorithmic Unreliability: Narrative Theory, Digital Ethics,
    and The Constitutionality of Employment AI.” 

    Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

    With Thomas Freeman and Marci Exted. 

     Chicago, IL and Online:  March 2022

    ​

    “Redefining Digital Literary: Algorithms and You.”

    SXSW EDU.

    With Thomas Freeman, Ayin Morales-Monge, and Shea Sullivan.  March 2022

    Winner of online voting competition to present.

     

    “Privacy 3.0: Forgiveness and Student Data After Mahoney.”

    International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference: DePaul University. 

    With Thomas Freeman, Simon Truatman, and Amanda Aherns. 

    Chicago, IL: October 2021

     

    “Algorithmic Bias: How Cross Functional Networks Can Fight Digitized Discrimination.”

    Heider Business Symposium: Creighton University. 

    With Thomas Freeman, Elizabeth Otto, Ayin Monge, and Julius Hernandez. 

    Omaha, NE.  October 2021

    ​

    “Reckoning With Robots; The Constitutional Implications
    of Using Algorithms to Make Human Decisions.”

    Midwest Associate of Legal Studies in Business

    /Midwest Business Administration Association Annual Conference.

    With Thomas Freeman. 

    Chicago, IL: March 2021

     

    “Digital Ethics: What’s Next?”

    OSTROM Workshop.  Indiana University School of Business. 

    With Julius Hernandez and Shea Sullivan. Bloomington, IN: February 2021
     

    “A Taxonomy of Algorithmic Unreliability: Using Facial Recognition to Map Constitutional Issues.”

    Data, Law, and AI Ethics Research Colloquium.

    Indiana University & Virginia Tech University.

    Online (COVID): May 2020
     

    “Racist Robots?  A Visual Primer on Understanding Algorithmic Bias.” 

    Midwest Associate of Legal Studies in Business/
    Midwest Business Administration Association Annual Conference.

    With Thomas Freeman, Ayin Monge-Morales, and Moises Morales. 
    March 2020

    ​

    “Rhetoric Versus the Robots: Mapping the Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Algorithmic Discrimination.”

    Consortium for the Study of Religion, Ethics and Society
    at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

    Bloomington, IN. November 2019


    “Why Digital Rights Is The New Civil Rights Movement.” 

    North Carolina A & T State University.

    Greensboro, NC :May 2018
     

    “What Norm MacDonald and Narrative Theory Can Teach Us

    About Social Media Privacy Big Data Reasoning.”

    Hamline University.

    Saint Paul, MN.  April 2017

    (In conjunction w/ exhibition for World Press Freedom Day.)

  • "What Would Jesus Program?”

    Rhetoric Society of America.

    Portland, OR.  May 2020

    ​

    “Racist Robots: A Visual Primer on Understanding Algorithmic Bias.” 

    Midwest Business Administrative Association/
    Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business Joint Conference.

    With Tom Freeman and Dan Schneider. Chicago, IL.  March 2020

     

    “Rhetoric Versus the Robots II: The Ethics of Algorithmic Unreliability.” 

    International Society for the Study of Narrative.

    With Weston Cregut and Rebekah Winkel.

    New Orleans, LA.  March 2020

     

    “Privacy 3.0: Using Narrative Theory to Navigate Legal, Corporate,
    and Community Debates on Algorithmic Ethics.”

    Data, Law, and AI Ethics Research Colloquium. Washington and Lee School of Law.

    With Thomas Freeman.  Lexington, VA.  April 2019
     

    “Audience 3.0: A New Rhetorical Ethics

    (and Aesthetics) for a Post-Remix Era.”
    Rhetoric Society of America.

     Philadelphia, PA: May 2012.

    “The Gentle Art of Accepting Enemies: New Media

    and the Rhetorical Aesthetics of Audience Exclusion.”

    The International Society for the Study of Narrative.

    St. Louis, MO: April 2011.

     

    “Playing Out Remix,”
    Conference on College Composition and Communication.
    Louisville, KY: March 2010.
     

    “End the Gaffe (And How Narrative Theory Let’s Us Do It).”

    The International Society for the Study of Narrative.
    Birmingham, UK:  June 2009.

     

    “I’m Not There Anymore: The Return of Identity in the Post-Remix Age.”
    Thomas R. Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition.

    Louisville, KY: October 2008.

     

    “Ethos in a Remediated Age: Context, Character, and Community.”
    Rhetoric Society of America.
    Seattle, WA: May 2008.

     

    Digital Rhetoric. Workshop. 
    Rhetoric Society of America Summer Institute.
    Troy, NY: June 2007.


  • “Using Narrative Theory to Categorize the Legality and Ethics of Employment AI.”
    w/ Thomas Freeman and Marci Exted
     

    “Using Narrative Theory to Categorize the Constitutionality
    of Predictive Policing Algorithms.” 
    w/ Thomas Freeman and Annie Sallee

    ​

    “Using Narrative Theory to Categorize the Constitutionality of Facial Recognition Lie Detection in Criminal Contexts.”
    w/ Thomas Freeman and Annie Sallee

     

    “Using Narrative Theory to Triangulate First Amendment Aesthetics and Algorithmic Hate Speech After Masterpiece.” 
    w/ Thomas Freeman and Annie Salle

    ​

    Note: Dr. McKain’s IP and academic research on technology law and ethics was embargoed from January 2020 – August 2023.  The following are already written – and award-winning – papers due to be sent out in Spring/Summer 2024. 

    All of this work has been presented in industry and academic conferences.  They are also the basis of our manuscript project: Deprogramming Postmodernism: Rhetoric vs. the Robots.

EDUCATION & TRAININGS

Anti-Defamation League I Bytes Media
Creighton Univ. I North Central Univ.
Univ. of Wisconsin: La Crosse I Indiana Univ. 
NPR's Next Team Challenge I SXSW EDU
 

K-12, COLLEGE, GRAD SCHOOL
cutting edge/non-partisan

  • “Algorithmic Bias in the Criminal Justice System: Cheat Codes for Defense  Attorneys.” 
    Minnesota Legal Rights Center.  Workshop.
    With Marci Exted and Tom Freeman. 
    Fall 2022

    ​

    “Technology Inclusivity in Online Dispute Resolution.”

    American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Technology Expo.
    With Angie Raymond and Isak NitAsare.

    Online.  July 2021
     

    "The Civil Rights Challenges Posed by Algorithmic Bias"

    Iowa State Bar Association, 2022.
    With Thomas Freeman
     

    "Legal Considerations of Algorithmic Decision Making"
    Nebraska State Bar Association, 2022.
    With Thomas Freeman
     

    Pitfalls of Using Algorithms in Hiring Decisions"
    Iowa State Bar Association 2022
    With Thomas Freeman

    ​

    The Promises and Perils of Algorithmic Decision Making"

    Omaha West Rotary, 2022.
    With Thomas Freeman
     

    "Reckoning with Robots: Understanding the Impacts of Algorithmic Decision Making"
     Suburban Rotary of Omaha, 2022.
    With Thomas Freeman

    ​

    "Algorithmic Discrimination: How Algorithms
    Affect Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts"
    Jacksonville State University, 2021.
    With Thomas Freeman
     

    "Algorithmic Discrimination: How Algorithms
    Affect Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts"
    University of Nevada-Reno. 2021.
    With Thomas Freeman
     

    “Internet Security and Cyberbullying Prevention Workshop.” 

    Little Earth Native Community.

    Minneapolis, MN.  April 2019 
    Funded By: Minnesota Health and Human Services.
     

    ​

BI-PARTISAN ADVOCACY
& CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

  • “Plugging In: Race, Technology, and Surveillance Workshop for Advocates and Educators.”

    Northeast Sculpture Gallery: Minneapolis, MN.  October 2021 

    With ACLU MN, Safety Not Surveillance, Reclaim the Block, Councilman Simon Trautmann (Richfield, MN), and Councilman Steve Fletcher (Minneapolis, MN).
     

    “Digital Rights Are Civil Rights: Race and Technology.”

    Juried International Art Exhibition and Community Education Event

    Minneapolis MN and Online: February 2021

    With the Institute for Digital Humanity, Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy, ACLU MN, Native Youth Arts Collective, and Councilman Steve Fletcher. 

Plugging In:
Tech & Surveillance

COMMUNITY EDUCATION & EMPOWERMENT EVENT
Minneapolis, MN and Online.  October 2021
 

​

In partnership with: 
 

ACLU Minnesota I  Reclaim the Block
The Institute for Digital Humanity I North Central Univ.

Safety Not Surveillance  I  Post ME I Tulane Valley Creates

Councilman Simon Troutman (Richfield, Minnesota)

Councilman Steve Fletcher (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Digital Rights are Civil Rights: Race and Tech

INTERNATIONAL JURIED ART EXHIBITION & CIVIC FORUM
Minneapolis, MN and online. 
February 2021
 

In partnership with:

The Institute for Digital Humanity 
The Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy

ACLU Minnesota
Native Youth Arts Collective;
North Central University
Post ME Coalition
Councilman Steve Fletcher (Minneapolis, MN)

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