James Weichert

About Me

Hi! My name is James. I'm a second-year Computer Science MS student at Virginia Tech in the Machine Learning Lab. My research focuses on AI ethics and policy, including AI regulation and AI ethics education. I graduated from UC Berkeley in May 2023 with majors in computer science and data science and a minor in public policy. I'm passionate about human-centered and ethical technology and am interested in the intersection of public policy, governance, data, and technology. In my spare time, I dabble in programming, data science, graphic design, policy advocacy, and a little bit of cooking.

During my time at both UC Berkeley and Virginia Tech, I've been engaged in the classroom as a TA and instructor. In summer 2022 and 2023, I was the course instructor for Data 6: Introduction to Computational Thinking with Data, an introductory data science class at UC Berkeley intended for students without prior coding experience. As an undergraduate, I was a lead GSI (TA) for Data 8: Foundations of Data Science, UC Berkeley's introductory data science class (with over 2,000 students in Fall 2022). I am currently a Graduate TA for CS 5805: Machine Learning I at Virginia Tech.

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Research

Publications

• J. Weichert, D. Kim, Q. Zhu, and H. Eldardiry (2024). "‘Do I Have to Take This Class?’: A Review of Ethics Requirements in Computer Science Curricula," ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) 2025. Recently accepted.
• J. Weichert, Q. Zhu, D. Kim, and H. Eldardiry (2024). "Perceptions of AI Ethics Policies Among Scientists and Engineers in Policy-Related Roles: An Exploratory Investigation," Digital Society. Recently accepted.
• J. Weichert and H. Eldardiry (2024). "Computer Science Student Attitudes Towards AI Ethics and Policy: A Preliminary Investigation," IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) 2024. Recently accepted.
• J. Weichert and C. Dimobi (2024). "DUPE: Detection Undermining via Prompt Engineering for Deepfake Text" Arxiv.

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Teaching

My favorite part of studying CS and data science at Berkeley was the opportunity to get taught by other undergraduate students, and in turn to teach other students myself.

I took Data 8: Foundations of Data Science my first semester at Cal and instantly fell in love with the class. I then volunteered as a "Lab Assistant" for two semesters before becoming a tutor and eventually an undergraduate student instructor (uGSI)—the Berkeley equivalent of a TA—in spring 2022. I served on Data 8 course staff for six semesters, and was the lead GSI responsible for content development and maintenance for the 2022-2023 academic year.

In summer 2022, I had the opportunity to teach Data 6, a relatively new Berkeley data science class for students without prior coding experience. As the instructor for the course, I was responsible developing and delivering content to a class of 60 students, managing assignments and course policies, and leading a six-person course staff. Over 80% of students—half of whom had no prior coding experience—achieved grades in the A+/A/A- range. I was grateful to be able to teach Data 6 again in Summer 2023.

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Connect With Me

Email: james [dot] p [dot] weichert [at] gmail

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