Scaling AI: Building Ethics into the Algorithm with Roy Austin

AI is learning from us—but what happens when the data it’s fed carries our deepest biases? This week, Elisa Poteat sits down with Roy Austin, inaugural director of Howard Law School’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative and former Deputy Assistant to the President for Urban Affairs, Justice and Opportunity in the Obama White House, to discuss how law and ethics can keep pace with accelerating innovation. Together, they examine AI’s influence on justice, bias, and national security, the responsibility of major tech companies, and what it will take to prepare the next generation of lawyers for an AI-driven world.

Roy Austin is the inaugural director of the Howard Law Artificial Intelligence Initiative, a groundbreaking initiative focused on ethical AI innovation and civil rights law.

References:

• White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. Expanding Access to Justice, Strengthening Federal Programs: First Annual Report of the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. November 2016.
• Horwitz, Jeff. “Meta’s AI Rules Have Let Bots Hold ‘Sensual’ Chats with Kids, Offer False Medical Info.” Reuters, 14 Aug. 2025
• FISA Section 230
• Doe v. Meta Platforms, Inc. U.S. District Court, N.D. Cal., No. 23-cv-420095, Opinion filed Oct. 17, 2025.