We invite you to join us for an exclusive and enlightening FedTalk: Ethics of AI on Tuesday, March 5th at 6:00 PM.

Industry executives will explore the ethical and societal implications of artificial intelligence and its applications. As AI technologies become more powerful and integrated into various aspects of our lives, it's essential to consider the ethical challenges and responsibilities that come with their development and use.

Speakers include*:

• Aaron Elkins (moderator), Director of the James Silberrad Brown Center for Artificial Intelligence and Associate Professor at SDSU Fowler Business College
• Rabbi Noah Farkas, President & CEO, JFEDLA
• Daniel Punt, Senior Managing Director, FTI Delta
• Adina Rosenthal, Associate General Counsel, McGraw-Hill
• Ted Schilowitz, Entertainment Industry Futurist

*Additional speakers to be announced

If you have any questions about this event, feel free to contact Steven Singer at JTech@JewishLA.org.

We look forward to seeing you on March 5th.

 

Aaron C. Elkins is an associate professor in the Department of Management Information Systems and director of the James Silberrad Brown Center for Artificial Intelligence Research at San Diego State University (SDSU). Prior to joining SDSU, he was a postdoctoral researcher at both the University of Arizona and Imperial College London. Elkins studies human-robotics interactions that incorporate AI to explain and predict human emotion, deception, and mental health based on physiological and nonverbal behavior. Additionally, Elkins investigates ethical AI which emphasizes explaining complex AI models and understanding biases and performance differences between and within different populations and groups.

 

Rabbi Noah Farkas serves as the Federation’s President & Chief Executive Officer. Named by The Forward as one of America’s most inspiring rabbis, Noah served from 2008 to 2021 as a clergy member of Valley Beth Shalom, the largest Jewish congregation in the San Fernando Valley, where he led successful innovations in synagogue life through social action, mental health, and next-generation spiritual initiatives. Previously, Noah served Congregation Beth Israel in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he helped rebuild the Gulf Coast Jewish community after Hurricane Katrina.

Noah is a proven civic leader in Southern California. In addition to his work as an appointed commissioner and former Chair of the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority over a two-year campaign, he mobilized a broad coalition of synagogues, churches, and other organizations to pass historic legislation that invested over $5 billion into housing and services for the vulnerable. Noah is also a third-generation veteran and served as a United States Navy Reserve chaplain during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A prominent voice helping to define the next generation of American Jewish leadership, Noah has served for several years as scholar-in-residence of the Federation’s Rautenberg New Leaders Project and a close partner to the Board of Rabbis. He founded Netiya, an interfaith organization fighting hunger in Los Angeles, as well as the Seminary Leadership Project, which has trained hundreds of Jewish clergy nationwide to create social change. Noah is also a founding board member of Zioness, a pro-Israel organization fighting antisemitism – including anti-Zionism – with the same clarity and intensity used to combat other forms of bigotry. His writing on millennial engagement, spirituality, and Jewish innovation has been published widely and his work has been quoted or featured in the LA Times, The New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, and on NPR.

Noah was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and earned a BA in Jewish Studies at the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University). He lives in Encino with his wife Sarah and four children.

 

Daniel Punt has over 20 years of experience in strategic planning and business plan development and project management, performance improvement, commercial and operational due diligence, with an emphasis on serving the production and post- production sectors.

Examples of recent client work include a performance transformation of the digital supply-chain of a major studio and cable television network, a cost transformation of a major US media studio, and the operational integration of two broadcaster/studios. He also led FTI’s Media & Entertainment approach to Generative AI value creation and related client interactions. He has led numerous buy- side and sell-side commercial diligence reports for the creative services and visual effects (VFX) sector, focusing on clients and target companies such as Technicolor Creative Studios, Framestore, FuseFX, Cinesite, Jellyfish, Panavision/LightIron, Trailer Park. He also ran an operational and commercial diagnostic of a virtual production services company.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Punt oversaw numerous client projects at HighView Media, a strategy advisory firm focused on media and entertainment companies, which was acquired by FTI Consulting in 2014. His client work included strategy formation for the launch of a top five U.S. digital pay TV service, project management for the launch of a digital studio and content acquisitions for a mobile video store, and growth strategy for a live streaming video production services company. Prior to HighView Media, Mr. Punt helped divest Ascent Media’s creative services businesses (e.g., Company3, Method, Encore) and digital distribution businesses as VP of Corporate Development. While at Ascent, Mr. Punt also helped launch the Global Media Exchange, an online business services portal and B2B marketplace.

Previously, Mr. Punt was responsible for business development at ABC Family, building out the channel’s digital distribution, licensing, international sales and home entertainment business lines. Mr. Punt began his career advising senior management as a Consultant with McKinsey & Co., where he focused on technology, media, and private equity clients. Mr. Punt also previously managed an IT team onboard USS Peleliu as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Mr. Punt frequently speaks on industry panels at events such as NAB and Next TV. He is an investor in and advisor to early-stage companies in the digital video, ad tech, mobile app, and business services sectors. He also founded Sunbelt Equity, a real estate private equity fund.

Mr. Punt is fluent in English, French and German.

 

Adina Rosenthal is Associate General Counsel at McGraw- Hill, a leading global education company. In her role as the central legal and privacy subject matter expert in the evolving AI space, Adina serves as a member of the GenAI Steering Committee and is overseeing the transformation of the Privacy Office into a Data Ethics Office. Outside of her day job, she is focused on nurturing a love for Israel and Jewish life, community, and overnight camp in her 8-year-old twin boys.

 

Ted is a recognized Futurist who has presented worldwide at numerous conferences and events for the film, TV, and interactive entertainment industries.

He’s been featured in Wired, Variety, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, CNET, Film and Video, DV Magazine, TV Technology, HD Video Pro, Engadget, Gizmodo, Millimeter, American Cinematographer, MacWorld, Post Magazine, Popular Science, and many other publications.

Most recently, Ted worked as the Futurist in Residence with the leadership and technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV, and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality, Web 3.0 and Advanced Themed Entertainment pursuits.

Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art and science of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance.

Ted helped lead creation teams for the Alien, Planet of the Apes, and Predator VR experiences at Fox. At his current home at Paramount, he’s been instrumental in bringing the Grease MR experience, the SpongeBob MR experience, the Light as a Feather MR experience and the Quiet Place VR experience to life.

Ted was an integral part of the product development team at Red Digital Cinema as the company’s first employee. The Red One and Epic cameras have made significant impact on the Motion Picture Industry, winning a Sci-Tech Academy and technical Emmy award. Many of the world’s biggest movies are shot with these ultra-high resolution digital movie cameras.

Ted is one of the founders of the G-Tech product line of advanced hard drive storage products. As the most recognized brand in that industry, these products are implemented worldwide at the highest levels on cinema and television productions.

Before being part of the founding teams at Red Digital Cinema and G-Tech, Ted was on the team that developed and launched the Macintosh desktop video division of AJA Video in tandem with Apple. These products are used on a massive scale worldwide for video production on many of the world’s biggest movies, TV series, and sporting events.

In 2019, Ted was honored at the Variety Hall of Fame with the Variety Innovation Award.

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