Matthew Salzano

IDEA Fellow in Ethical AI, Information Systems, and Data Science and Literacy; School of Communication and Journalism / Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science / Program in Writing and Rhetoric
Start Date: September 1, 2023

Matthew Salzano has been yearning and fighting for social justice most of his life – from his days as a closeted gay youth attending an evangelical Christian School in his home state of Washington, to college and beyond. Today, he has a job at Stony Brook that exemplifies everything he and the University stand for when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as civility, free speech, respect and accessibility. Even the title of the area where he works – the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA) Fellows Program – fits Matthew like a glove.

Specifically, Matthew is teaching classes about media, artificial intelligence (AI), writing and advocacy within the context of how all of this affects race, class and gender biases. His research and writing focus on “living a participatory life navigating demanding digital times.” And he is listed as a Stony Brook University Expert in AI, where he is credited with being “at the forefront of interdisciplinary conversations about responsible uses of technology, especially artificial intelligence.”

About his teaching, he says, “It's really about equipping students with skills and tools and conceptual resources to navigate these complicated issues I'm interested in as they go into their professional worlds or graduate school.”

The complex topics Matthew is referring to are as timely as they are deep: “In these digital times, many people just speak in tweets – with clichés and with the goal of having the moral upper hand over others. That makes it actually really challenging to engage in substantive dialogue. That’s why I went to graduate school. I was like, what is happening here? What about digital media is making it harder for us, in many ways, to have meaningful conversations about things that are important to all of us?”

The search for answers to these critical questions transformed into what became Matthew’s dissertation project and research agenda. Both of these, he says, “explore how people in these demanding digital times – where it's financially expedient for social media companies to make us fight with each other – can actually craft ways to meaningfully engage with each other instead of just butting heads.” His scholarship involves the ethical and political implications of digital media, especially AI and social media. 

Matthew says his particular interest in AI started with the algorithms that govern social media pages. “I want to uncover what people are being shown,” he explains, “how it shapes their sensibilities of engaging in the world; and what intersectional biases are embedded into the coding of algorithms that determine what people are interested in or presumably need to see.” He’s also looking to highlight best practices for communication professionals in a variety of fields to think about in terms of the ethical implementation of AI use. “People interested in making the world a better place are aware of the biases that exist and hopefully can do something to help eradicate them,” he says.

Matthew’s road to tackling these issues at SBU began in earnest when he moved cross country – from Tacoma, Washington, where he did his undergraduate studies at Pacific Lutheran University, to College Park, Maryland, where he received his Master’s degree in Communication and Doctor of Philosophy-PhD in Communication (Rhetoric and Political Culture) from the University of Maryland.

Maryland is also where Matthew met his now-husband, Aaron. “We met on a dating app, talking about how we were both, coincidentally, Lutherans. And we just hit it off from there and moved in together during the pandemic.” They also lived for six months in Oxford, England – when Matthew received an “emergency request” to serve as a faculty member in a study abroad program – before getting married in the Washington, D.C. area.

Today, Matthew and Aaron – a communication professional who works remotely for the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida – live in Sound Beach, where they’re enjoying all Long Island has to offer in the form of North and South Shore beaches, North Fork wineries, friends and fun.

“I’m still just thrilled to be able to see the water every day, having grown up in Eastern Washington, also known as ‘the Inland Northwest.’ In just 15 minutes, I can walk over to the Long Island Sound and see all the way across to Connecticut. I’m in awe every day.”

They also love going into NYC to visit friends and enjoy cooking and entertaining. Matthew says he makes a “mean dessert” and that he’s “trying to get the same reputation as one of my colleagues, who is apparently well known for hosting dinner parties. In addition to social justice pursuits, I want to be known for high-quality cooking!”