Happy 2024! This week, we're reading a few big think pieces on neuro-ethics and the fragmentation of the internet, U.S. intelligence community findings on foreign interference efforts in the 2022 elections, and efforts to read the tea leaves about AI's impact on elections as we enter this mega election year.
Advances in Mind-Decoding Technologies Raise Hopes (and Worries) | Undark
Fascinating read on advances in brain-computer interface, giving rise to technology with the ability to read and manipulate thoughts, and the accompanying neuro-ethics movement. Looking towards an era when machines have the ability to read our thoughts, researchers are urging proactive legal protection of 'neurorights': the right to mental privacy; the right to personal identity; the right to fair access to mental augmentation; the right of protection from bias in the development of neurotechnology algorithms; and the right to free will.
Nobody Knows What’s Happening Online Anymore | The Atlantic
A thought provoking article from The Atlantic on the fragmentation of the internet, resulting in a highly customized online space governed by recommendation algorithms. The outcome of all these non-intersecting "bespoke realities" is a world in which we are "left shadowboxing one another and arguing in the dark about problems, the size of which we can’t identify."
How the Federal Government Can Rein In A.I. in Law Enforcement | NY Times
This op-ed reflects on the protections in recent draft OMB guidance concerning law enforcement's use of AI. The authors raise concern that waivers, national security allowances and a lack of provisions to extend guidance to state and local law enforcement could water down otherwise serious efforts to protect vulnerable populations from algorithmic harms.
Foreign Threats to the 2022 US Elections | The National Intelligence Council
The DNI released a public version of a report on foreign interference in the 2022 election, noting that election interference activity has been "normalized" and observing an increased number of foreign actors. The report's finding of increased willingness by China to engage in election interference has driven external speculation as to what Chinese efforts in 2024 might look like; something we are already seeing in Taiwan.
The Year of AI and Elections | Council for Foreign Relations
There's been no shortage of coverage on how the year of elections will intersect with AI. This podcast by Council for Foreign Relations puts the question in recent historical context, reminding us that AI is the latest chapter in a threat to a shared sense of truth that undergirds democracy.
A U.S. Politician Is Robocalling Voters With an AI Chatbot Named ‘Ashley’ | Vice
On the topic of AI and elections, the first AI powered phone bank bot was rolled out in the PA-10 Congressional District race. The UK-based company behind the bot stresses the advantage of scale (it can call thousands of voters simultaneously) and cost. At present, regulation of such tools is virtually non-existent.