AI Ethics | Jason S. Lucas

Penn State connections lead doctoral student to interdisciplinary College of IST

Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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Click on the Read Full Article link above to read the complete story on Penn State News.

Academic Journey

This feature story traces the interdisciplinary path that led Jason Lucas from the West Indies to Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology, where he’s pursuing groundbreaking research in multilingual AI and harmful content detection.

Key Highlights

Multidisciplinary Foundation

Information Technology: Bachelor’s degree at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies
Health Informatics: Master’s in computer information systems at Boston University
Public Health: Master of public health back at St. George’s University
Current Focus: Doctoral degree in informatics at Penn State’s College of IST

Mentorship Network

Theodore Hollis: Professor emeritus from Penn State’s Eberly College of Science, mentor at SGU
Dongwon Lee: Professor and director of doctoral programs, current graduate adviser
LinDiV Program: Transdisciplinary fellowship enhancing linguistic knowledge
PIKE Research Group: Collaborative environment for data mining and security applications

Research Evolution

Perfect alignment: Informatics field matching his interdisciplinary background
AI and NLP solutions: Addressing societal challenges in healthcare and information integrity
Multilingual focus: Developing technologies for languages with limited digital resources
Social impact: Protecting vulnerable communities from manipulation and harmful content

Current Research Impact

PIKE Research Group

Lucas works within the Penn State Information Knowledge and Web (PIKE) Research Group, studying data management and mining across diverse forms with focus on social and security applications.

Research Goals

“Success in my work would look like advancing research for social good and developing deployable technologies that protect vulnerable populations from manipulation and harmful content. My ultimate goal is to further the development of inclusive language technology that not only bridges the digital language divide but also protects people from hidden manipulations that exploit psychosocial biases.”

LinDiV Fellowship Impact

Filling gaps: Providing depth in linguistics and language sciences
Transdisciplinary approach: Combining computational methods with linguistic theory
Community building: Connecting with researchers across disciplines
Research enhancement: Strengthening multilingual NLP capabilities

Looking Forward

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Opportunity

Lucas is preparing for the Data Science Summer Institute at LLNL, where he will:

Apply research: Work on projects of national importance
Collaborate: Partner with leading scientists and engineers
Bridge academia: Connect academic research with practical applications
Gain experience: Access high-performance computing resources

Vision for Impact

Lucas aims to develop inclusive language technologies that can detect and counter harmful content across multiple languages, with particular relevance for defending communities whose languages aren’t prioritized by major tech platforms.

The Power of Interdisciplinary Education

“Throughout this journey, I was unconsciously building a multidisciplinary background that would later become my greatest strength. Learning directly from leading clinicians, public health professionals and technology experts across these institutions gave me a unique perspective on solving complex problems at the intersection of these fields.”

Lucas’s story demonstrates how diverse educational experiences, combined with strong mentorship, can create researchers uniquely positioned to tackle complex, real-world challenges.

Read the complete story to learn more about Jason Lucas’s academic journey and his vision for developing inclusive language technologies that protect vulnerable communities worldwide.

Leadership Examples in Tech Rarely Look Like Me

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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Click on the Read Full Article link above to read the complete profile on Penn State IST’s iConnect website.

Student Spotlight

This powerful profile examines how Informatics PhD student Jason Lucas is using his experiences as an underrepresented student to drive both his research and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of tech leaders.

Key Highlights

The Power of Mentorship

Mentoring philosophy rooted in guidance from Professor Emeritus Theodore Hollis
Community engagement through educational programs using dance as a gateway
Student support for undergraduates working on AI for social good and multilingual NLP
Building independence while providing consistent advocacy and support

Navigating Representation Challenges

Stark realities: Being one of the few Black men in his PhD program
Conference experiences: Representing less than 1% of attendees at academic conferences
Identity transition: From Grenada’s diverse environment to academia’s homogeneous spaces
Finding community: Transformative experience at the BLK Men in Tech THRIVE Conference

Research with Purpose

Addressing gaps: How current AI models fail to incorporate Black Afro-Caribbean perspectives
Language inclusion: The absence of Caribbean vernacular and languages like Haitian Creole
Community impact: How low-resource communities are disproportionately affected by tech manipulation
Driving change: Using personal identity as motivation for more inclusive technology

Academic Impact

Current Research Focus

Lucas mentors undergraduate students on projects spanning:

AI for social good applications
Multilingual NLP research through the PIKE Research Lab
Deepfake detection technologies
Millennium Scholars program contributions

The PIKE Research Lab

The Penn State Information, Knowledge, and wEb (PIKE) group focuses on data management and mining across diverse forms, with particular attention to social and security applications—work that directly benefits from Lucas’s inclusive perspective.

Transformative Experiences

BLK Men in Tech THRIVE Conference 2024

Lucas describes this experience as “profound in two ways”:

Community building: Bonding with IST’s Black undergraduate community as their chaperone
Professional networking: Connecting with Black leadership in tech and renewing belief in his potential to excel

The conference highlighted both the community Lucas found and the research gaps his work addresses.

Philosophy in Action

“Having navigated challenges in my own educational journey, I find deep fulfillment in helping students discover their strengths and develop strategies to overcome obstacles. I understand firsthand how important tailored guidance can be, especially for students from underrepresented backgrounds or those facing additional challenges.”

Lucas’s approach focuses on building independence while ensuring students have reliable support, fostering both problem-solving skills and curiosity in the next generation of tech leaders.

Read the full profile to learn more about Jason Lucas’s journey, his research impact, and his vision for creating more inclusive technology that serves all communities.

Equity, Inclusion & the Digital Language Divide

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The benefits and harms of generative AI are not distributed equally. This project examines how AI systems disproportionately impact long-tail users—speakers of underserved languages and members of marginalized communities who are often excluded from model training and evaluation. By quantifying these disparities and analyzing how generative AI amplifies existing inequities in the information ecosystem, this work makes the case that equitable AI is not optional but essential. It bridges AI for Social Good with Safe and Ethical AI, centering the voices and needs of communities that current technologies routinely overlook.

Related Publications:

Generative AI Disproportionately Harms Long Tail Users (2024, Computer)
The Longtail Impact of Generative AI on Disinformation (2024, IEEE IS)
Detecting False Claims in Low-Resource Regions (2022, ACL) — cross-listed
BLUFF (2026) — cross-listed

Generative AI Disproportionately Harms Long Tail Users

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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This work examines how Generative AI systems disproportionately impact longtail users, highlighting critical equity concerns in AI deployment.

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The Longtail Impact of Generative AI on Disinformation: Harmonizing Dichotomous Perspectives

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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This work provides a comprehensive analysis of Generative AI’s impact on disinformation in critical contexts where traditional mitigation strategies may be insufficient.

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