Ph.D. ‘25 alum Yim Register is one of two recipients of this year’s iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award. Register became the second University of Washington Information School student to receive the recognition.
“I am delighted and honored to have received this award. None of this would have been possible without such incredible iSchool professors and collaborators,” said Register. “I am especially grateful to my committee (Emma Spiro, Jevin West, Wanda Pratt and Amy Zhang) as well as iSchool professors who shaped my learning and growth in immeasurable ways.”
Register noted that Professors Amy J. Ko, Anna Lauren Hoffmann and Nicholas Weber were also particularly influential during their time at the iSchool.
The iSchools is an international organization of more than 130 universities around the world united by a shared interest in information research and learning. Each year, the iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award recognizes individuals making strides in the information field and comes with a $2,500 honorarium. Nominees are selected from doctoral dissertations across all iCaucus institutions.
Register received this award for their dissertation, titled “The Future of AI Can Be Kind: Strategies for Embedded Ethics in AI education.” Their research investigates examples of algorithmic harms and creates learning methods to teach students about these harms. Their work provides a blueprint to integrate ethical reasoning into technical classes, emphasizing how drawing data from students’ experiences can transform how they relate to algorithms.
“At times it feels that our world is becoming ever more bleak, but on my best days I stand by the fact that the future of AI can be kind,” said Register. “More importantly, the future of humanity can be kind too, if we fight for it.”
Register is currently an Applied Scientist at Amazon Web Services Machine Learning University, teaching software engineers to implement responsible and safe AI solutions.