The AIRES Mission
AIRES at PUCRS is committed to promoting and enhancing The AIRES Mission. Our mission is to focus on educating tomorrow's AI leaders in ethical AI principles to ensure AI is created ethically and responsibly.
As technology advances at an exponential rate, we must begin thinking about how AI will interact with and impact society at different facets of daily life, with the focus on ethical implications and its implementation within AI systems.
Notably, the development and involvement in AI ethics by students and professionals has been relatively nascent. The foresight of how important it is to regulate AI through the lens of ethical discussion and implementation is of paramount significance within the setting of the rapid development of AI and how it has already permeated our daily lives.
As such, the AI Robotics Ethics Society was founded in 2018 at UCLA (USA, Los Angeles) by Aaron Hui to promote the awareness and importance of ethical implementation and regulation of AI. AIRES is now a nonprofit organization with chapters at USC (University of Southern California), Caltech (California Institute of Technology), Stanford University, Cornell University, Brown University, and the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).
Board
President
Nicholas Kluge is the current President of AIRES at PUCRS. Nicholas is an ML engineer and holds a Master's in Electrical Engineering, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at PUCRS (Brazil) and Bonn University (Germany).
His current research deals with Machine Learning, Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, and Alignment.
​
Nicholas is in charge of the research done by AIRES at PUCRS and is also part of the Governance Committee of RAIES (Network of Ethical and Safe Artificial Intelligence).
​
Nicholas enjoys writing, studying, building things, skateboarding, and playing D&D ("dwarves are way cooler than elves").
​
You can find his work at this link.
Vice-President
Camila Galvão is our Vice-President and responsible for strategic and legal management at AIRES at PUCRS.
​
She is a lawyer, researcher at RAIES and Tecnopuc Law, Master in Law (PUCRS), and researcher of the duty of diligence of administrators in the use of Artificial Intelligence. She also holds a post-graduate degree in Tax Law (IBET/RS) and is a partner at Galvão Advogados, where she works with massive litigation management and leads over 150 employees.
A born curious, she loves to question the world and learn new things!
Vice-President
Lara Sosa Márquez is our Vice President, responsible for the management of AIRES' external resources at PUCRS.
​
She holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations, a master's degree, and a doctorate in Social Sciences from PUCRS, with a doctoral-sandwich period at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Her research focuses on political sociology, migration, and gender.
​
Extrovert, always looking to grow, and ready to help.
Marketing & Communications Director
Carolina Del Pino is a graduate student in psychology at PUCRS. She is a researcher in the RAIES project - Network of Ethical and Safe Artificial Intelligence.
Her research areas are Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Neurophilosophy, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapies. She enjoys reading, writing, watching sitcoms, and, above all, singing. Carolina believes that no series will ever top The Big Bang Theory.
​Director of Culture and Engagement
Aline S. Barbosa is the Director of Culture and Engagement of AIRES at PUCRS. Graduated in Literature at PUCRS, she is CEO of the companies Cultural Maps and IBI AMA.
She works as a researcher at RAIES and is a Master's candidate in Philosophy. Her research focuses on the relationship of women with the development and application of technologies in ML, AI Ethics and Digital Governance.
Aline believes that constructions based on respect, diversity and plurality are primordial conducts for any actions that can be beneficial to the world.
To get in touch, just access this link.
Advisory Board
Nythamar Fernandes de Oliveira is a full Professor of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil, National Council Researcher (CNPq, since 1995), Visiting Professor at the University of Toledo, Ohio (since 2007), and Coordinator of the Assessment Area of Philosophy at the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES, 2018-22).
​
He was associate professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC, 1994-99) and has been a fellow researcher of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (2004-05, 2012).
Gabrielle Bezerra Sales Sarlet has a bachelor's and Master's in Law from the Federal University of Ceará - UFC. Ph.D. in Law from the University of Augsburg - Germany with thesis validated by PPGD - UFGRS.
Post-Doctorate in Law from the University of Hamburg - Germany, and also from PUCRS. Visiting researcher and scholarship holder at the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und Internationales Privatrecht - Hamburg- Germany (2018), Professor of undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs in Law at PUCRS.
​
Paulo Caliendo holds a Ph.D. in Law from PUCSP and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from PUCRS. His current research deals with Artificial Intelligence Ethics and the Problem of Artificial Moral Agents.
He enjoys writing, research, sports, and studying Cryptoactives (Paulo thinks cryptos are fun).
Prof. Dr. Nelson Costa Fossatti holds a degree in Communications Engineering, a post-graduate degree in Data Communications, a doctorate in Communication in the Public Sphere from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), a master's degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), and a doctorate/master's degree in Philosophy from PUCRS. Currently, Prof. Fossatti is doing a post-doc at PUCRS on AI Ethics.
Rodrigo Leal is the current coordinator of NAVI, the AI and Data Science Hub of Tecnopuc/PUCRS.
With a master's degree from UFRGS in Computer Science, he has a career as an entrepreneur in technology-based businesses.
He is also the founding partner of Wisidea Ventures, a company that participates in startups.
Camila Barbosa holds a Master's and Ph.D. in Philosophy from PUCRS and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Unilasalle.
Her current research involves Ethics and Political Philosophy, Gender and Sexuality, and theories of International Relations.
She likes to research, dogs, checking random facts on google, and cooking.
Prof. Dr. Jair Tauchen holds a post-doctoral internship at PUCRS (CAPES/PNPD Fellow, 2018). He holds an undergraduate degree in Religious Sciences from PUCRS (1987), and a bachelor in Theology from PUCRS (2017), Specialization in Retail Strategic Management from the Retail Management program of the Administration Institute Foundation of the Administration Department of
FEA/USP (2006), Specialization in Philosophy, Philosophy and Society at PUCRS (2013), Master in Philosophy at PUCRS (2015), Sandwich Ph.D. CAPES/PROBRAL at Universität Hamburg, Germany (2016-2017), CDEA/DAAD internship at Universität Bonn, Germany (2018), Ph.D. (2018) at PUCRS.
Edson Antônio Sousa Pontes Pinto is a lawyer; University Professor - Catholic University of Rondônia; Doctor in Law - PUC/RS; Master in Law - PUC/SP; Bachelor in Law - PUC/PR; Coordinator of the Global Law and Technology Group Legal Hackers (Porto Velho Chapter); and Member of the Advisory Board of AIRES - AI Robotics Ethics Society - at PUCRS.
Emil Albert Sobottka holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Political Science from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) Münster (Germany).He is a professor in the Graduate Program in Social Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) and a professor in the Graduate Program in Social Work at PUCRS. His research is related to citizenship rights, social movements, democracy, public policies, political participation, and social theory.
Henrique Carlos de Oliveira de Castro, Ph.D. in Political Science, professor of Political Science and International Relations at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), and guest professor at several universities abroad. He was General Secretary of the Brazilian Sociological Society (SBS), the National Director for Brazil of the World Values Survey Association, and a member of the Values 20 (V20) group, related to the G20. He coordinates the CNPq research groups "World Values Survey" and "Pirandello - Social Sciences and Artificial Intelligence Research Lab." He is a Capes consultant for internationalization issues.
Regina Ruaro is a lawyer and legal consultant in the areas of Administrative Law, Digital Law and Personal Data Protection. She is partner and director of Regina Ruaro Advogados Associados. Regina is also a professor at the Law School of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, and a retired Federal Attorney / AGU. Professor Regina holds a PhD in Law from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (1993) with title revalidated by UFRGS and Post-Doctorate from Universidad San Pablo - CEU of Madrid (2006/2008), Guest Professor of the Master in Data Protection, Transparency and Access to Information of Universidad San Pablo de Madrid-CEU/Spain, and Associate Dean of the School of Law (2018/2021).