DESCRIPTION
Occured Monday, September 29, 2025
6th Annual BTLJ-BCLT Fall Race & Tech Symposium: Regulating the Machine: Centering Racial Justice in AI Policy-Making
Panel 1: “Where We Live, Work, Play, and Learn”: Generative AI and Environmental Policy
Program Information | Agenda | Resources
Panel Description:
The climate crisis, environmental disasters, and the “slow violence” of harms like long-term pollution have disproportionately affected low-income communities of color. Amidst the worsening climate crisis, this panel explores the environmental consequences of the generative AI boom, from rapid increases in energy consumption to the strain that data centers place on municipal water systems. We will discuss best practices for developing AI-related environmental guardrails and how policy solutions can effectively center the needs of marginalized populations.
Speakers
Adam Husik, K&L Gates
Alyssa Moir, K&L Gates
Roberto Verdecchia, University of Florence
Moderator
Dan Farber, CLEE, UC Berkeley Law
Symposium Description:
Join us for Regulating the Machine: Centering Racial Justice in AI Policy-Making, a thought-provoking event exploring the intersection of AI, racial justice, and regulatory and legal frameworks that seek to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. We’ll explore the convergence of the worsening climate crisis and the “AI boom”; unpack concerns about how AI use will impact workers; and discuss the consequence of racial bias in AI tools across sectors, from the criminal legal system to healthcare. Through engaging panel discussions, we’ll discuss best practices for developing AI-related guardrails, asking what is still needed to protect the marginalized communities disproportionately affected by climate disaster, safeguard workers’ rights, and ensure the just and reliable provision of healthcare. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from preeminent experts in various fields and plug into meaningful conversations about how emerging technologies shape our lives—from our personal health outcomes to the places where we, and our families, live, work, play, and learn.
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