Shannon Vallor is an American philosopher of technology. She is the

Baillie Gifford Baillie Gifford & Co is a British investment management firm which is wholly owned by partners, all of whom work within the firm. It was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1908 and still has its headquarters in the city. It has corporate offices ...

Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. She previously taught at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

in Santa Clara, California where she was the Regis and Dianne McKenna Professor of Philosophy and William J. Rewak, S.J. Professor at SCU.

Education and career

Vallor earned her PhD in philosophy from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in 2001. While obtaining her PhD at Boston College, Vallor was a teaching fellow from 1997–1999 in the department of philosophy. She was a lecturer at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

from 2001–2003. Vallor has been a professor in the philosophy department of

since 2003. In addition to her academic career, Vallor also serves as a consulting AI Ethicist for Google's Cloud AI program. She has formerly served as president of the Society for Philosophy and Technology, is a member of the advisory board for Capita Social, and co-director and Secretary of the Board of the

Foundation for Responsible Robotics The Foundation for Responsible Robotics (FRR) is a not for profit non-government organization that advocates for the ethical design and production of Robot, robots. History The FRR was officially launched on December 11, 2015, with the co-found ...

, a not for profit

non-government organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that advocates for the ethical design and production of

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s. Vallor is also a scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, where she and Princeton computer scientist Arvind Narayanan created a free, online module called "An Introduction to Software Engineering Ethics." She received the World Technology Award in Ethics in 2015, and in 2017 received both the Public Intellectual Award and President's Special Recognition Award from Santa Clara University. Vallor has authored numerous articles on ethical issues in emerging technology, as well as a book, "Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting". In October 2019, it was announced that Vallor would be joining the faculty of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

as the first

Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI).

Selected works

Books

*Vallor, Shannon (2024). ''AI Mirror.'' Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197759066 *Vallor, Shannon (2016). ''Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting.'' Oxford University Press.

Journal articles

*Vallor, Shannon (2010). "Social Networking Technology and the Virtues," Ethics and Information Technology 12:2, 157-170. *Vallor, Shannon (2011). "Knowing What to Wish For: Human Enhancement Technology, Dignity and Virtue," Techne 15:2, 82-100. *Vallor, Shannon (2011). "Carebots and Caregivers: Sustaining the Ethical Ideal of Care in the 21st Century," Philosophy and Technology 24:3, 251-268. *Vallor, Shannon (2012). "Flourishing on Facebook: Virtue Friendship and New Social Media," Ethics and Information Technology 14:3, 185-199. *Vallor, Shannon (2014). "Armed Robots and Military Virtue," in The Ethics of Information Warfare, eds. Floridi and Taddeo (Springer) *Vallor, Shannon (2015). "Moral Deskilling and Upskilling in a New Machine Age: Reflections on the Ambiguous Future of Character," Philosophy and Technology. 28: (2015), 107-124.

Encyclopedia articles

*Vallor, Shannon (2012; Revised 2015). "Social Networking and Ethics," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallor, Shannon Living people American philosophers of technology Artificial intelligence ethicists American philosophers Santa Clara University faculty Academics of the University of Edinburgh Boston College alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Santa Clara University alumni