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GETTING-Plurality

A part of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, GETTING-Plurality is a multi-disciplinary research network linking philosophers, social scientists, computer scientists, legal scholars, and technologists

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Governance of Emerging Technology and Tech Innovations for Next-Gen Governance (GETTING-Plurality) is a multi-disciplinary research network linking philosophers, social scientists, computer scientists, legal scholars, and technologists. We are building a unique collaborative that unites tech ethics initiatives at Harvard University with external impact partners across higher education and the tech industry, bringing philosophers and ethicists to the table for every project.

The network is housed in the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation.

Our Mission

We’re at a pivotal moment. To promote universal well-being, we need to promote the responsible governance of innovation and responsibly innovate the way we govern.

GETTING-Plurality seeks to advance understanding of how to shape, guide, govern, and deploy technological development in support of democracy, collective intelligence, and other public goods. Our focus is on how to do so, given the plural nature of human intelligence. We pursue foundational analysis and theory, field-building, and policy development to foresee and mitigate potential harms to democracy and to strengthen the public benefit and democracy-supportive effects flowing from technology innovation.

Research Areas

This network will convene multi-disciplinary teams to tackle questions of how to govern emerging technologies and how to deploy emerging technologies for governance from a multiplicity of viewpoints and expertise.

Leadership


Danielle Allen
Headshot of Danielle Allen

Danielle Allen

Professor of Public Policy, HKS;
James Bryant Conant University Professor, FAS

Darshan Goux

Darshan Goux

Senior Lab Director, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation

Sarah Hubbard

Sarah Hubbard

Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation

Allison Stanger

Allison Stanger

Non-resident Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation;
Co-Director and Co-Investigator, GETTING-Plurality Research Network

Network Members


Tina Eliassi-Rad

Professor, Northeastern University

Ami Fields-Meyer
Headshot of Ami Fields-Meyer

Ami Fields-Meyer

Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
July 2024-June 2025

Zoë Hitzig

Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows

Saffron Huang

Co-Founder, Collective Intelligence Project

Shrey Jain

Researcher, Microsoft Research

Jonas Kgomo

Founder, Equiano Institute

Yu-Ting Kuo

Faculty Member, MIT and National Tsing Hua University

Seth Lazar

Seth Lazar

Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University

Anna Lewis

Research Scientist, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Puja Ohlhaver

Researcher & Lawyer

Omoaholo Omoakhalen

Founder, Remake Africa & Plurality Lead, School of Politics, Policy and Governance

Aviv Ovadya

Affiliate, Berkman-Klein Center, Harvard Law School & Affiliate, Centre for the Governance of AI

Alexander Pascal

Alexander Pascal

Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation

Nick Pyati

Strategy, Microsoft

Mathias Risse

Faculty Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy & Professor, Harvard Kennedy School

Divya Siddarth

Co-Founder, Collective Intelligence Project

Ajeet Singh

Physician Instructor and Clinical Informaticist, Rush University Medical Center

Meredith Sumpter

CEO & Managing Partner, Just Equity

Glen Weyl

Glen Weyl

Research Lead, Microsoft Research, Plural Technology Collaboratory & Founder, RadicalxChange Foundation

Zachary Wojtowicz

Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology and Economic Theory, Harvard University

Kinney Zalesne

Former Co-Head of Corporate Strategy, Microsoft

Graduate Student Network Members


Nate Hiatt

PhD Candidate in Political Science, Yale University

Uma Ilavarasan

PhD Candidate in Government, Harvard University

Woojin Lim

Researcher, Harvard College

Charlotte Siegmann

PhD Candidate in Economics, MIT

Luke Thorburn

PhD Candidate, King's College London

Upcoming Events


The latest news, resources, and research


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Tech Policy that (Actually) Serves the People

Commentary

Tech Policy that (Actually) Serves the People

Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation Fellow Ami Fields-Meyer lays out research questions for developing a new U.S. tech policy agenda that puts people first.

The National Security Case for Public AI
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Occasional Paper

The National Security Case for Public AI

Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation Fellow Alex Pascal and Vanderbilt Law Professor Ganesh Sitaraman make the case that public options for AI and public utility-style regulation of AI will enhance national security by ensuring innovation and competition, preventing abuses of power and conflicts of interest, and advancing public interest and national security goals.

Conference on the Political Economy of AI Podcast Episodes
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Podcast

Conference on the Political Economy of AI Podcast Episodes

Check out the podcast episodes from the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation’s Conference on the Political Economy of AI to glean insights from each panel.

AI and Democracy Summer Reading List
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Feature

AI and Democracy Summer Reading List

This list, curated by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, highlights a mix of foundational texts and new thinking on the timely issue of how AI will impact democracy, especially as we head into election season.

Conference on the Political Economy of AI

Feature

Conference on the Political Economy of AI

Experts gathered at the Allen Lab conference to examine the incentives and structures of AI development, as well as to discuss the past, present, and potential future of steering AI towards better serving the public interest.

Stay updated on GETTING-Plurality's recent news and events

AI and the 2024 Elections
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Feature

AI and the 2024 Elections

From misinformation to AI panic, experts joined the Allen Lab’s GETTING-Plurality event to discuss the threats the burgeoning technology poses to democracy.

AI and the 2024 Elections

Video

AI and the 2024 Elections

The GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Ash Center’s Allen Lab and Connection Science at MIT Media Lab hosted a webinar event focused on “AI and the 2024 Elections”. In this session, we hear from Danielle Allen, Harvard University; Sandy Pentland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Nate Persily, Stanford University. Each presenter gives a lightning talk, followed by audience Q&A.

GETTING-Plurality Conference on the Political Economy of Artificial Intelligence

Video

GETTING-Plurality Conference on the Political Economy of Artificial Intelligence

The Political Economy of AI Conference was convened by the GETTING-Plurality Research Network, a project of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, housed at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Terra Incognita: The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Global Perspective

Additional Resource

Terra Incognita: The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Global Perspective

GETTING-Plurality Research Network members Allison Stanger and Woojin Lim, along with other authors, published “Terra Incognita: The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Global Perspective” in the Annual Review of Political Science.

 

AI and the Future of Privacy

Video

AI and the Future of Privacy

The GETTING-Plurality Research Network at the Ash Center’s Allen Lab and Connection Science at MIT Media Lab hosted a webinar event focused on “AI and the Future of Privacy”. In this session, we hear from Bruce Schneier, security technologist, and Faculty Affiliate at the Ash Center; Sarah Roth-Gaudette, Executive Director of Fight for the Future; and Tobin South, MIT Ph.D. Candidate and Fulbright Scholar. Each presenter gives a lightning talk, followed by audience Q&A.

AGI and Democracy

Policy Brief

AGI and Democracy

We face a fundamental question: is the very pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) the kind of aim democracies should allow?

Democracy as Approximation: A Primer for “AI for Democracy” Innovators

Additional Resource

Democracy as Approximation: A Primer for “AI for Democracy” Innovators

This essay was adopted from a presentation given by Aviv Ovadya at the Second Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reimagining Democracy held on the campus of Harvard Kennedy School in December 2023.

GETTING-Plurality — “A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power-Sharing Liberalism”
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Video

GETTING-Plurality — “A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power-Sharing Liberalism”

This GETTING-Plurality Research workshop session features Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, Director of the Allen Lab, and presenting author of “A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power-Sharing Liberalism.” Allen was joined in conversation by commentator Rob Reich, McGregor-Girand Professor of Social Ethics of Science and Technology, Stanford

The Real Dangers of Generative AI

Additional Resource

The Real Dangers of Generative AI

“The Real Dangers of Generative AI” by Danielle Allen and Glen Weyl was featured in the January 2024 Journal of Democracy.

Abstract: As perhaps the most consequential technology of our time, Generative Foundation Models (GFMs) present unprecedented challenges for democratic institutions. By allowing deception and de-contextualized information sharing at a previously unimaginable scale and pace, GFMs could undermine the foundations of democracy. At the same time, the investment scale required to develop the models and the race dynamics around that development threaten to enable concentrations of democratically unaccountable power (both public and private). This essay examines the twin threats of collapse and singularity occasioned by the rise of GFMs.