With both new and established AI platforms evolving every day, reviewing current research — and conducting her own — is a critical part of Kawamleh’s work. As Cummins’ chief data scientist, she coordinates with the organization’s chief technology officer to make informed decisions about technology investments and development.
It’s a fitting role for Kawamleh, for whom the question of what constitutes an “informed decision” isn’t just a matter of good business; it’s a profoundly complex question of philosophy and ethics. At its core, her research considers the meaning of “good” scientific evidence and the ways in which we use that evidence.
“I think AI is making this question even more critical and mainstream,” Kawamleh said. “A large bottleneck now is knowing how to evaluate AI-produced content and its reliability. Verification is now the bottleneck, not generation. And industrial companies like Cummins have built their reputation on reliability. So, I think questions of epistemic justification for scientific method are more relevant and critical now than ever.”
Kawamleh’s research has engaged with these topics since her days as a graduate student at IU. In journals such as AI and Ethics and Synthese, she’s published articles about the ethical usage of AI in the healthcare sector and its application in atmospheric sciences, exploring how evidence, expertise, and authority shift when artificial systems become part of our decision-making process. However exciting, Kawamleh cautions on her website, innovative technology poses many new social, political, and moral challenges.
“The biggest challenge I see is a willingness to cede authority to intelligent systems based on their intelligence and performance without taking seriously that authority ought to derive from ethical or moral performance, not intellectual performance,” she said. “I worry that people are quietly and voluntarily allowing AI to make important decisions and just gliding over the hard ethical reflections and decision making that ought to happen for genuine leadership.”
These “hard reflections” are where an education in philosophy seems downright essential for our collective use of AI. Kawamleh credits her time as a doctoral student in the Department of Philosophy as a time when she learned how to stretch her thinking beyond its comfort zone.
“While faculty were supportive,” she said, “I was pushed to grow my capabilities even if it was incredibly hard and uncomfortable. It refined my cognitive skills and critical reasoning and problem-solving abilities in ways few other programs would and for which I’m still grateful today.”
It’s no surprise that Kawamleh feels passionate about other students seeking out an education in her field. Philosophy is now a form of technical literacy, one that ensures the tools of the future are built and used responsibly. For students considering a career in AI-related fields — especially students interested in philosophy, ethics, and the humanities — Kawamleh has some straightforward advice.
“Do it,” she said. “It is fascinating and the entire field needs you and needs philosophers who can think carefully and critically about these issues. You will be an asset to any organization you join.”
Kawamleh’s career is a testament to how the humanities, the sciences, and engineering are often deeply intertwined. Questions that philosophers have considered for centuries — questions about truth, trust, and the nature of knowledge itself — are now shaping the many lines of code we depend upon for life and work. And for researchers and young professionals like Kawamleh, that makes for an especially exciting (if fraught) time to be both a philosopher and a corporate leader.
“As demonstrated in some social experiments, individuals sometimes do wrong actions just because someone told them to,” Kawamleh said. “I think that’s being magnified with these systems and blurring accountability further. Ethical reasoning and moral and philosophical education are more critical than ever before.”
About the Author
Raymond Fleischmann is director of advancement communications for the IU College of Arts and Sciences. He holds a B.A. in English and the Individualized Major Program from IU and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Ohio State University. His first novel, How Quickly She Disappears, was published by Penguin Random House in January 2020, and his short fiction has been published in The Iowa Review, Cimarron Review, The Pinch, River Styx, and Los Angeles Review, among many others. Reach him at rfleisch@iu.edu.
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