Data Leverage: A Framework for Empowering the Public and Mitigating Harms of Artificial Intelligence

Nicholas Vincent

31-Aug-2022, 16:00-17:00 (19 months ago)

Abstract: Many powerful computing technologies rely on both implicit and explicit data contributions from the public. This dependency suggests a potential source of leverage for the public in its relationship with technology companies: by reducing, stopping, redirecting, or otherwise manipulating data contributions, a group of people can reduce the effectiveness of the lucrative technologies of an organization they wish to pressure to change, or boost up the technologies of a competitor. In this talk, I will present a framework for understanding “data leverage” that highlights new opportunities to change to address negative impacts related to economic inequality, privacy, content moderation and other areas of societal concern that stem from data-dependent technologies and tech company practices. I will highlight the role of research that measures data value and that simulates data-related collective action, and discuss a future research agenda for this work that intersects with many open questions about online governance.

Bio: Nick Vincent is a PhD candidate in Technology and Social Behavior (joint program in Computer science and Communication) at Northwestern University. His research focuses on studying the dependence of modern computing technologies, including the broad set of systems called "AI", on human-generated data, with the goal of mitigating negative impacts of these technologies. He is especially interested in research that (1) makes people aware of the value of their data and (2) helps people leverage the value of their data. This research is rooted in the hypothesis that, with better-designed systems, AI can mitigate inequalities in wealth and power rather than exacerbate them.

game theoryhuman-computer interactionsocial and information networkslaw and economics

Audience: researchers in the topic

( chat | slides | video )


Metagovernance Seminar

Series comments: The Metagovernance Seminar invites individuals working in online governance to present their work to a community of other researchers and practitioners. Topics of the seminar include, but are not limited to, computational tools for governance, governance incidents and case studies from online communities, topics in cryptoeconomics, and the design of digital constitutions.

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Organizers: Joshua Tan*, Nathan Schneider*, Jenny Fan*, Michael Zargham*, Amy X. Zhang*, Cent*, Eugene Leventhal*
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