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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251022T003000
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UID:514163-1761093000-1761139800@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:Automating Content Policy
DESCRIPTION:AI is no longer just moderating individual posts — it is learning how to interpret and enforce policy itself. Dave Willner — who has led trust and safety teams at Facebook\, Airbnb\, and OpenAI — joins journalist Meg Marco for a conversation about the shifting terrain of moderation in the age of generative AI. \nFrom the tipping points of past technologies\, like the cell phone\, to today’s new “policy-rewriting machines” that can run millions of classifications in an hour\, Willner and Marco will explore how automation is changing the scale\, speed\, and stakes of online governance. \nNew systems can ingest a company’s policy documents\, apply them to vast datasets\, and make millions of classifications in hours. In doing so\, they both replicate the human task of drawing boundaries — deciding what falls inside or outside the rules — and extend that task far beyond traditional concerns like hate speech or misinformation. \nRead more about this event and register to attend here. 
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/automating-content-policy/
LOCATION:Hybrid
CATEGORIES:Talk
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251023T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251023T170000
DTSTAMP:20261024T113838
CREATED:20251021T164034Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251021T164034Z
UID:514147-1761235200-1761238800@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:Friend\, Flatterer\, or Foe? The Psychology and Liability of Chatbots
DESCRIPTION:As AI systems become more conversational\, the lines between tool\, companion\, and manipulator are blurring. What happens when machines start telling us what we want to hear—and when users start depending on them for emotional connection? \nIn this conversation\, journalist and author Kashmir Hill joins the Berkman Klein Center’s Meg Marco (Senior Director\, Applied Social Media Lab) and Jordi Weinstock (Senior Advisor and expert in tort law) to explore the psychological ripple effects of AI on users\, platforms\, and the legal landscape that’s still struggling to keep pace. \nThe panel will examine emerging research on AI “sycophancy\,” models that flatter\, mirror\, and reinforce users’ beliefs\, as well as the mounting evidence that frequent interaction with text-based chatbots can influence mood and behavior. As more stories of these psychologically damaging relationships emerge (especially impacting young people)\, the conversation turns to liability: when emotional harm or manipulation occurs\, who bears responsibility? Are AI systems becoming a dangerous consumer product akin to gambling or social media\, and what ethical or legal frameworks should protect users from their unintended consequences? \nRead more and register to attend here. 
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/friend-flatterer-or-foe-the-psychology-and-liability-of-chatbots/
CATEGORIES:Talk
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251028T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T235959
DTSTAMP:20261024T113838
CREATED:20251022T185808Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251022T185838Z
UID:514170-1761609600-1761782399@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:The Future of Free Speech Online | The Age of Constitutional Evasion: Jawboning and Other Forms of Government Pressure to Control Private Speech
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by the Center for Democracy & Technology and Stand Together Trust\, the Future of Speech Online conference is an annual event that brings together policymakers\, media\, academics\, corporations\, advocates\, and thought leaders to discuss today’s most pressing issues around free speech online. \n\n\nGovernments have always worked to shape the speech of private parties and these efforts have always threatened overcensorship of dissent and governmentally disfavored viewpoints. The current Administration in the United States is taking this common phenomenon to new and dangerous heights\, and the impacts are reverberating globally. Join us as we examine government pressure on speech intermediaries (also known as “jawboning”)\, particularly the Trump Administration’s efforts to shape online speech environments at universities\, news outlets\, online\, and in other contexts. \nThis year’s Future of Speech Online event will explore recent court decisions that increase protections against jawboning and how we can use them and other tools to reduce inappropriate government pressure on speech platforms while maintaining essential communications. Additionally\, speakers will examine the ways in which Section 230 might work to protect against censorship of vulnerable groups including immigrants\, trans youth\, and public health practitioners. We will also take a look at efforts to regulate speech produced by generative AI. \nSessions will also look at agency efforts to dictate editorial choices\, examining First Amendment limits on FCC and FTC authority to control or encourage particular editorial policies and the ways in which the agencies are trying to evade those limits. Finally\, we will talk about the unprecedented attacks against the speech of non-citizens and the various ways the government is using social media monitoring tools to silence dissent. And we will spotlight experts who have directly experienced (or work on behalf of those who have experienced) government pressure aimed at undermining free expression. \n\nThroughout the event\, we’ll hear from legal experts\, technologists\, and policymakers about what’s at stake in this important year for democracy and free speech.\n\nRead more and register to attend here. If you have questions\, concerns\, or access needs\, please contact events@cdt.org before the event.
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/the-future-of-free-speech-online-the-age-of-constitutional-evasion-jawboning-and-other-forms-of-government-pressure-to-control-private-speech/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Talk
ORGANIZER;CN="Center for Democracy & Technology":MAILTO:civictech@cdt.org
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T193000
DTSTAMP:20261024T113838
CREATED:20250909T212613Z
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SUMMARY:Understanding AI with Data & Society | Reorienting AI for the Public Interest
DESCRIPTION:​The New York Public Library and Data & Society present “Understanding AI\,” a four-part live event series exploring the social implications of artificial intelligence and its impacts on democracy\, the environment\, and human labor. Featuring key figures in the AI ethics field\, these events will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) in New York City as part of the library’s 7 Stories Up program\, and will also be available to watch via livestream. This series of conversations will demystify the AI discourse and equip library patrons and the public with practical ways of understanding the current landscape. \nFor the October 29 event\, Data & Society Executive Director Janet Haven hosts a critical discussion about AI accountability and the public interest\, featuring professor Charlton McIlwain\, journalist Julia Angwin\, and civic technologist Catherine Bracy. \nThe concentration of power and lack of regulation in the technology industry directly shapes how AI is designed and deployed\, and whose interests it serves. That means decisions about these tools often reflect corporate priorities over public benefits. While AI is often held up as a tool to increase “efficiency\,” it is essential to ask: efficiency for whom\, and at what cost? What would it mean to create and oversee AI in the public’s best interest? How could these technologies be made more accountable to the people and communities they affect? And what is needed to create a future where AI works for everyone? \nTo join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events\, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance\, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time\, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program. \nTo join the event online | Whether you’re attending in person or online\, you must register with your email address.The Zoom link will be sent to you by email approximately one day before the event. You will need a device with audio and/or video and an internet/cellular connection to join. \n\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERS\nJanet Haven is the executive director of Data & Society. She has worked at the intersection of technology policy\, governance\, and accountability for more than twenty years\, both domestically and internationally. From 2022 to 2025\, Janet served on the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC)\, which advises the National AI Initiative Office and the executive branch on a range of issues related to artificial intelligence\, and chaired the Rights\, Trust\, and Safety working group. \nJulia Angwin is an award-winning investigative journalist\, a bestselling author\, a New York Times contributing Opinion writer and a Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media\, Politics\, and Public Policy. She is the founder of Proof News\, a nonprofit journalism studio that launched in 2024. \nCatherine Bracy is a civic technologist and community organizer whose work focuses on the intersection of technology and political and economic inequality. She is the founder and CEO of TechEquity and the author of World Eaters: How Venture Capital is Cannibalizing the Economy. She was previously Code for America’s Senior Director of Partnerships and Ecosystem and Director of Obama for America’s Technology Field Office in San Francisco. She is on the board of directors at the Data & Society Research Institute and the Terner Housing Lab. \nDr. Charlton McIlwain is Vice Provost for Faculty Development\, Pathways & Public Interest Technology at New York University\, where he is also Professor of Media\, Culture\, and Communication. He is the author of Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice\, From the Afronet to Black Lives Matter and the recent PolicyLink report Algorithmic Discrimination: A Framework and Approach to Auditing & Measuring the Impact of Race-Targeted Digital Advertising. McIlwain is the founder of the Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies\, and is Board President at Data & Society Research Institute.
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/understanding-ai-with-data-society-reorienting-ai-for-the-public-interest/
LOCATION:Hybrid
CATEGORIES:Talk
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