Open Transcripts

AI in Reality

presented by Elana Zeide, Kevin Bankston, Lindsey Sheppard, Miranda Bogen, Rumman Chowdhury

When data scientists talk about bias, we talk about quantifiable bias that is a result of let’s say incomplete or incorrect data. And data scientists love living in that world—it’s very comfortable. Why? Because once it’s quantified if you can point out the error you just fix the error. What this does not ask is should you have built the facial recognition technology in the first place?

AI in Sci-Fi

presented by Andrew Hudson, Chris Noessel, Damien Williams, Kanta Dihal, Lee Konstantinou, Madeline Ashby

What I hope we can do in this panel is have a slightly more literary discussion to try to answer well why were those the stories that we were telling and what has been the point of telling those stories even though they don’t now necessarily always align with the policy problems that we’re having.

The Sci-Fi Feedback Loop

presented by Kevin Bankston

We’re here because the imaginary futures of science fiction impact our real future much more than we probably realize. There is a powerful feedback loop between sci-fi and real-world technical and tech policy innovation and if we don’t stop and pay attention to it, we can’t harness it to help create better features including better and more inclusive futures around AI.

Compassion through Computation: Fighting Algorithmic Bias

presented by Gideon Lichfield, Joy Buolamwini, Justine Cassell

I think the question I’m trying to formulate is, how in this world of increasing optimization where the algorithms will be accurate… They’ll increasingly be accurate. But their application could lead to discrimination. How do we stop that?

What We Really Mean When We Say “Ethics”

presented by Molly Wright Steenson

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University has some really useful thinking and curricula around ethics. One of the things they point out is that what ethics is not is easier to talk about than what ethics actually is. And some of the things that they say about what ethics is not include feelings. Those aren’t ethics. And religion isn’t ethics. Also law. That’s not ethics. Science isn’t ethics.

John Perry Barlow’s Usenix 1994 Keynote Address

presented by John Perry Barlow

I honestly believe without hyperbole that people in this room are doing things which will change the world more than anything since the capture of fire, in terms of what it is to be a human being. And I’ll justify that very broad statement here as I go along.

The Precariat: A Disruptive Class for Disruptive Times

presented by Guy Standing

In a book that I wrote in 2011, on page one I said that unless the insecurities, and the fears, and the aspirations of the precariat were addressed as a matter of urgency, we would see the emergence of a political monster. You will not be surprised that in November 2016 I received a lot of emails from around the world from people who said, “The monster has arrived.”

Can We Talk Long-Distance? Removing Impediments to Secure International Communications

presented by A. Michael Froomkin, Ira Rubinstein, Phil Karn, Ron Lee, Stephen Walker, Stewart Baker, Tim May

So, here we are to talk about this problem. How do we do it? How do we talk securely with people abroad? And in particular what can we do…what’s feasible to do, to progress matters from where we are today? And with the help of some of the members of the panel, I drafted the three questions.

Transaction Records in Interactive Services: Who Watches the Servers?

presented by Alan Westin, Charles Marson, Janlori Goldman, Michael Stern, Ron Plesser

First of all, let’s recognize that the privacy of transaction records is not a brand new issue at all. We have many decades of experience, and I think it helps to understand that we have two types of consumer transaction records that we’re talking about.

His Master’s Voice

presented by Geoff Sears, Kathleen Watkins, Ross Stapleton-Gray

What we’ll be covering is just the general issue of political information on the net. And actually I think probably all three of us are in somewhat agreement that the government on the net is maybe the least best-poised to make use of this, or the most challenged by political speech on the net, the politics of the information flowing around the net.