Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making

On June 13, the Neely Center hosted the Culminating Event of the 2025 Neely Ethics and Technology Fellows Program. 

Director Nathanael Fast contributes to the development of future ethical leaders at historic gathering of first-time voters in D.C.

The inaugural cohort presented their research into immersive technology along with industry experts and insiders.

The Psychology of Technology Institute, in collaboration with the Digital Business Institute at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, was honored to host the 8th Annual Psychology of Technology Conference, titled “New Directions in Research on the Psychology of Technology,” on October 12-13, 2024. This year’s theme, “The Quantified Society,” brought together a diverse group of industry leaders, behavioral scientists, technologists, and AI experts dedicated to fostering a healthy psychological future as AI becomes an integral part of daily life. This year, conference speakers included Madeleine Daepp, Microsoft Research; Johannes Eichstaedt, Stanford University; Emily Saltz, Google Jigsaw; Glenn Ellingson, Civic Health Project; Tara Behrend, Michigan State University; Andrea Liebman, Swedish Psychological Defence Agency; Chloe Autio, Autio Strategies, and Dokyun "DK" Lee, Boston University, among others. The keynote was delivered by Luis von Ahn, CEO and co-founder of Duolingo.

The Neely Center and the Initiative on Digital Competition gathered leading minds from industry and academia to discuss what’s now and what’s next in responsible AI.

Ravi Iyer, Managing Director of the Neely Center, recently testified and provided insights regarding Utah's Bill HB418 ("Data Sharing Amendments"). This bill aims to protect consumer privacy and promote interoperability among major tech platforms. It passed unanimously through the Utah Senate committee and is strongly supported by the governor. If enacted, HB418 would set an important precedent, placing Utah at the forefront of global and federal discussions around consumer rights and tech interoperability.

Ravi Iyer, Neely Center’s Managing Director, was recently interviewed by the Marketplace about the critical topic that hits close to home for many: kids' online safety. Their conversation centered around the delicate balance parents seek—helping kids stay socially connected while mitigating the risks of excessive social media exposure. Important insights for parents, educators, and policymakers navigating the digital landscape. It’s a nuanced issue, and it’s great to see their perspective helping shape the conversation on how we balance connectivity and safety in the digital age.

In this article, our Director, Nathanael Fast, Managing Director, Ravi Iyer, and their coauthors explore the transformative potential of large language models (LLMs) to foster more inclusive and participatory online spaces. While LLMs hold immense promise—such as enabling deliberative dialogues at scale—they also pose challenges that could deepen societal divides. To address this, the authors propose a forward-looking agenda for strengthening digital public squares and ensuring the responsible use of AI. Their goal? To foster innovation while safeguarding against the misuse of these powerful technologies.

The effects of technology platforms span state, federal, and global levels, requiring responses from policymakers across jurisdictions. Despite varying contexts, the challenges faced remain considerably similar. To address these, the Neely Center, in partnership with Knight Georgetown Institute and the Tech Law Justice Project, convened a gathering of state officials, legal scholars, federal regulators, and technology experts in Washington, DC. The discussion focused on identifying pathways to create effective, feasible, and constitutional policy solutions.

One key outcome of this gathering was the development of a Design Taxonomy that is now being used across jurisdictions to guide regulatory responses. Ongoing collaborations leveraging this taxonomy aim to produce syndicated policy options ready for implementation in 2025.

Recently, Ravi Iyer, Managing Director of the Neely Center, delivered a keynote presentation at OfCom's public event on "Evaluating Effectiveness of Online Safety Measures." During his presentation, he introduced both the Neely Center Design Code for Social Media and the Neely Indices. Ravi continues to serve on OfCom's academic panel, contributing insights to support the implementation of the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act.

Director Nathanael Fast contributes to the development of future ethical leaders at historic gathering of first-time voters in D.C.

The Neely Center's Design Codes were recently shared with decision-makers within the UK Government and the UK’s communications regulator (Ofcom), as they develop the new Online Safety Act. Ofcom is now designing and consulting on their codes of practices to implement the Act. Ofcom also has a history of measuring user experiences online, similar to our Neely Center Indices, and there is much to be learned methodologically across both efforts. Ofcom recently added Ravi Iyer, our Managing Director, as a member of their Economics and Analytics Group Academic Panel. As Ofcom implements the Online Safety Act in the UK, Ravi Iyer will be advising them on conceptual frameworks and empirical approaches to understand, measure, and improve outcomes for people in digital communications.

In an invited talk with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Neely Center's Ravi Iyer, discussed the impact of manipulative design patterns in social media, aligning with the FTC's focus on "Dark Patterns." His testimony emphasizes our role in advocating for transparency and fairness in digital design. The Neely Design Code provides specific design recommendations for policymakers and technologists to improve the impact of social media platforms on society. We are excited to see the Neely Center's work contributing to substantive discussions on digital ethics.

The Center’s upstream design solutions are propelling Minnesota legislation to improve social media platforms.

The Neely Center hosted a conference for experts, policymakers, and academics to discuss the implications of the new technology.

Developed in collaboration with an array of experts, newly released Neely Center Design Code for Social Media provides recommendations for improving the digital platforms impact on society.

The new director of the USC Marshall Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making talks about his role and vision for the Center.

In a recent article by Politico, the Neely Center's Director Nathanael Fast and Affiliate Faculty Director Juliana Schroeder were featured for their insights on AI's growing influence. The piece delves into the rapid integration of AI technologies in various industries and the ethical implications that accompany this trend. Addressing the issues around AI ethics and the challenges we face in this rapidly evolving landscape is crucial for understanding how we can navigate these advancements responsibly.

By tracking usage and quality of experiences, the Social Media Index will allow the public, researchers, and policymakers to make meaningful comparisons across time, events, and platforms, for the first time.

The Neely UAS Artificial Intelligence (AI) Index is the first longitudinal public tracking survey, with new data to be published monthly.

Iyer posits that an Illinois cell phone ban would allow teachers to focus on teaching, instead of policing phone use.

Iyer warns that while more than a quarter of U.S. teens use ChatGPT for homework, unlike real adults, chatbots can sometimes be coaxed into giving dangerous answers.

With the rise of public FaceTime calls, public-call shaming may rise from concerns around phone addiction, citing data from Neely Center’s 2023 Social Media Index.

Fast discusses the implications of OpenAI’s shift to restructure as a for-profit company.

Iyer discusses what Washington’s Senate Bill 5708 means for families, tech giants, and the future of scrolling.

Iyer discuss design vs. moderation of social media platforms when it comes to influencing users.

Iyer discusses Washington state’s social media bill and its impact on teen mental health in NPR.

Iyer was featured in a recent Tech Policy Press article, exploring the critical issue of child safety online on platforms like Facebook.

Iyer says while tech platforms do make a variety of tools available for parents, many parents aren’t aware of the various support systems.

Iyer shares insights on Utah's bipartisan bill, HB418, which aims to grant users the right to own, control, and manage their data.