The world is on fire, what can math do? (EiM 8)

Speaker: Maurice Chiodo, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
Series: C.U. Ethics in Mathematics Society (CUEiMS)

Mathematicians need an acute awareness of the ethical issues they may face during their career, but this is only the first in a sequence of steps required to do mathematics responsibly. Beyond knowledge, actions and changes in behaviour are necessary in order to turn safety and ethics from a theoretical concept to lived practice, and such actions are not always immediately obvious. This lecture looks at how mathematicians can take this next step, from increasing their level of ethical engagement, to looking past oaths and codes as `quick-fixes', to operationalising responsible development, and to seeing how to factor in other points of view and put their own thoughts into writing. It shows how they can `be the change' and transition from thinking about ethics, to doing ethics, leading them out from the insights of the course and into more proactive roles as responsible mathematicians.

This is the final seminar of the 2026 Introduction to Ethics in Mathematics seminar series hosted by the CU Ethics in Mathematics Society. The lecture will be followed by discussion and a social.