Ryan Jenkins

Ryan Jenkins is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and a Senior Fellow at the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group. Specializing in applied ethics (particularly military ethics and emerging technologies) and normative ethics (especially consequentialism), his work bridges classical philosophical frameworks with modern technological challenges.

His recent research focuses on ethical integration of AI in policing, warfare, and digital platforms, with an emphasis on value-sensitive design and moral deliberation in autonomous systems. Articles like Threads and Needles (2025) and Autonomous Weapons Systems (2020) exemplify his cross-disciplinary approach combining ethics, technology, and policy.

As Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded project Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Policing (2019–2022), Jenkins has led initiatives addressing ethical AI deployment. His teaching portfolio spans existentialism, environmental ethics, and philosophy of technology, reflecting his broad engagement with ethical questions in science and society.