Daniel Schiff

Dr. Schiff is an Assistant Professor of Technology Policy at Purdue University’s Department of Political Science and the Co-Director of GRAIL, the Governance and Responsible AI Lab.

As a policy scientist with a background in philosophy, he studies the formal and informal governance of AI through policy and industry, as well as AI's social and ethical implications in domains like education, manufacturing, finance, and criminal justice. His interdisciplinary and mixed methods research addresses topics such as industry standards and organizational practices for AI ethics, public and elite opinion and influence dynamics in the policy process, the development of social responsibility attitudes amongst future computing and engineering professionals, and the role of the public in governing emerging technologies.

At GRAIL, he focuses on fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations to study AI's social, policy, and ethical implications using diverse theoretical approaches and rigorous methods. He works with many passionate and talented graduate and undergraduate students, academics, and practitioners.

His work also includes the development of interdisciplinary coursework focused on technology, policy, and ethics, and he maintains a key interest in engaging with members of the public, stakeholders in civil society and industry, and policymakers to share best practices, learn from others, and have applied impact that can benefit society. He aims to make his research accessible and relevant.

For example, Dr. Schiff served as the founding Responsible AI Lead at JP Morgan Chase & Co., the most Globally Systematic Important Bank (GSIB). He also served as Secretary of the IEEE 7010-2020 standard, the first AI ethics industry standard, focused on the impacts of AI on human well-being, and remains engaged in international, national, and subnational AI policy efforts. Before then, he worked for several years in the non-profit K-12 education sector as the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Planning at the Philadelphia Education Fund.

Dr. Schiff studied Philosophy at Princeton University, focusing on robotics and intelligent systems, before completing a Master’s in Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and PhD in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

You can see his work in venues across various disciplines, including Policy Studies Journal, Science and Public Policy, Public Administration, Technology in Society, Review of Policy Research, AI & Society, the International Journal of AI in Education, IEEE Transactions on Technology & Society, the Journal of Engineering Education, the AMA Journal of Medical Ethics, and Nanotechnology, and you can reach him at dschiff "at" purdue "dot" edu or at @dan_schiff.

Recent Publications

• • Schiff, K. J., Schiff, D. S. , & Bueno, N. S. The Liar’s Dividend: Can Politicians Claim Misinformation to Evade Accountability. (Forthcoming) American Political Science Review. https://osf.io/qpxr8
    
    
  • Schiff, D. S., & Schiff, K. J. (2023). Narratives and expert information in agenda-setting: Experimental evidence on state legislator engagement with artificial intelligence policy. Policy Studies Journal, 51(4), 817–842. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12511
    
    
  • Schiff, K. J., Schiff, D. S., Adams, I. T., McCrain, J., & Mourtgos, S. M. (2023) Institutional Factors Driving Citizen Perceptions of AI in Government: Evidence from a Survey Experiment on Policing. Public Administration Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13754
    
    
  • Schiff, D. S., Lee, J., Borenstein, J., & Zegura, E. (2023). The impact of community engagement on undergraduate social responsibility attitudes. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2260414
    
    
  • Walker, C. P., Schiff, D. S., & Schiff, K. J. (2024). Merging AI Incidents Research with Political Misinformation Research: Introducing the Political Deepfakes Incidents Database. 2024 Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence. https://osf.io/fvqg3/
    
    
  • Schiff, D. S., & Rosenberg-Kima, R. AI in Education: Landscape, Vision, and Critical Ethical Challenges in the 21st Century. (2023). In Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence (804–814). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781803928562/book-part-9781803928562-81.xml
  • Schiff, K. J., Schiff, D. S., Adams, I. T., McCrain, J., & Mourtgos, S. M. (2023). Institutional Factors Driving Citizen Perceptions of AI in Government: Evidence from a Survey Experiment on Policing. Public Administration Review.
    
    
  •  Schiff, D. S., Lee, J., Borenstein, J., & Zegura, E. (2023). The impact of community engagement on undergraduate social responsibility attitudes. Studies in Higher Education.
    
    
  • Schiff, D. S. (2023). Looking through a policy window with tinted glasses: Setting the agenda for U.S. AI policy. Review of Policy Research.
    
    
  • Schiff, D. S., & Schiff, K. J. (2023). Narratives and expert information in agenda-setting: Experimental evidence on state legislator engagement with artificial intelligence policy. Policy Studies Journal.
    
    
  • O’Shaughnessy, M. R., Schiff, D. S., Varshney, L. R., Rozell, C. J., & Davenport, M. A. (2023). What governs attitudes toward artificial intelligence adoption and governance? Science and Public Policy.

Awards:

• National Institute of Justice Award No. 15PNIJ-23-GG-05487-RESS, Policing Leadership and Accountability: Harnessing Big Data and Causal Inference for Evaluating Police Reform Practices, 2024-25, Co-PI, ($972,000)
• Google Research gift for Undergraduate Student AI Literacy in the U.S., Germany, and U.K, 2023 ($5000)
• Purdue University Office of Research, Seed funding for Foundations and Cracks in Achieving Ethical Action Through AI Education: A Systematic Review, Co-PI ($10,000)

 

Policy, Industry, and Public Impact:

• Launch of the Academic Alliance for AI Policy (AAAIP), Steering Committee Member
• JPMC rated as #1 in Responsible AI in finance sector (covered in many outlets): FinTech Magazine, Evident AI Index, American Banker, The AI Journal, Fortune, etc.
• GRAIL accepted by the US NIST AI Safety Institute as a member of its new consortium

DanielSchiff.com

Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL)