Danielle Allen
Professor of Public Policy, HKS;
James Bryant Conant University Professor, FAS
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
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. The research areas of this network will continue to evolve and expand over time. Some of the initial research areas of focus and open research questions are below.
Leadership
Eli Frankel
Research Coordinator, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Darshan Goux
Senior Lab Director, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Sarah Hubbard
Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Allison Stanger
Senior Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation;
Co-Director and Co-Investigator, GETTING-Plurality Research Network
Network Members
Tina Eliassi-Rad
Professor, Northeastern University
Zoë Hitzig
Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows
Saffron Huang
Co-Founder, Collective Intelligence Project
Uma Ilavarasan
PhD Candidate in Government, Harvard University
Shrey Jain
Researcher, Microsoft Research
Yu-Ting Kuo
Faculty Member, MIT and National Tsing Hua University
Seth Lazar
Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University
Woojin Lim
Researcher, Harvard College
Puja Ohlhaver
Researcher & Lawyer
Tessel van Oirsouw
Visiting Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Aviv Ovadya
Affiliate, Berkman-Klein Center, Harvard Law School & Affiliate, Centre for the Governance of AI
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
Bruce Schneier
Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy
Divya Siddarth
Co-Founder, Collective Intelligence Project
Charlotte Siegmann
PhD Candidate in Economics, MIT
Ajeet Singh
Physician Instructor and Clinical Informaticist, Rush University Medical Center
Meredith Sumpter
CEO & Managing Partner, Just Equity
Luke Thorburn
PhD Student, King's College London
Shlomit Wagman
Faculty Associate, Berkman-Klein Center, Harvard Law School & Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
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
Upcoming Events
GETTING-Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy
Online Event
webinar
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm EDT
Towards Life 3.0 with Henry Farrell
Online Event
Virtual, Registration Required
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT
Conference on the Political Economy of Artificial Intelligence
Online Event
9:00 am – 6:00 pm EDT
The latest news, resources, and research
Additional Resource
Terra Incognita: The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Global Perspective
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
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.
Occasional Paper
A Roadmap for Governing AI: Technology Governance and Power Sharing Liberalism
Video
Advancements in Global AI Policy
The “Advancements in Global AI Policy” webinar featured the following speakers and topics:
- Andrew Strait, Ada Lovelace Institute – Recent Developments in UK AI Policy
- Alex Pascal, Harvard Kennedy School – Biden’s AI Policy: Past, Present, and Future
- Chinasa T. Okolo, Brookings Institution – Globalizing Perspectives on AI Governance: Africa’s Role in International AI Cooperation
- Maia Levy Daniel, University of San Andrés & Wikimedia Argentina – AI Regulation in Latin America Requires a Thoughtful Process
- Armando Guio Español, Harvard Berkman-Klein Center – Generative AI: What Should Governments in Latin America Do?
Video
Regulating Web3: Global Trends and Challenges
“Regulating Web3: Global Trends and Challenges” webinar session featured the following speakers and topics:
- Peter Kerstens (European Commission) on EU Markets in Crypto Asset Regulation
- Carol Van Cleef (Luminous Group) on US Approach to Digital Asset Regulation
- Urszula McCormack (King & Wood Mallesons) on APAC Approach to Digital Asset Regulation
- Thomas Hardjono (MIT Media Lab) on Technical Standards for Web3
Additional Resource
Summit on AI and Democracy
On November 7, 2023, the Summit on AI and Democracy gathered experts across multiple institutions to discuss ongoing research, policy, and development efforts related to the recent advancements in artificial intelligence.
Additional Resource
Reimagining Democracy for AI
“Reimagining Democracy for AI” by Aviv Ovadya was featured in the October 2023 Journal of Democracy.
Abstract: AI advances are shattering assumptions that both our democracies and our international order rely on. Reinventing our “democratic infrastructure” is thus critically necessary—and the author argues that it is also possible. Four interconnected and accelerating democratic paradigm shifts illustrate the potential: representative deliberations, AI augmentation, democracy-as-a-service, and platform democracy. Such innovations provide a viable path toward not just reimagining traditional democracies but enabling the transnational and even global democratic processes critical for addressing the broader challenges posed by destabilizing AI advances—including those relating to AI alignment and global agreements. We can and must rapidly invest in such democratic innovation if we are to ensure that our democratic capacity increases with our power.
Video
The Dark Side of AI: Crime and Adversarial Use Cases
“The Dark Side of AI: Crime and Adversarial Use Cases” webinar session featured the following speakers and topics:
- Bruce Schneier (Harvard): Hackers and Security Vulnerabilities
- Matt Groh (Northwestern): Deepfakes and Misinformation, see related paper The Art and Science of Generative AI
- Shlomit Wagman (Harvard): Financial Crime
- Jennifer Calvery (HSBC): Financial Crime
Video
Introduction to AI and Public Policy
The “Introduction to AI and Public Policy” webinar session featured the following speakers and topics:
- Danielle Allen (Harvard): AI and Democracy
- Sandy Pentland (MIT): A Practical Framework for Data and AI systems for Regulators
- Shayne Longpre (MIT): A Primer in Large Language Models
- Gabriele Mazzini (European Commission): Overview of the EU AI Act
Article
Bridging Systems: Open Problems for Countering Destructive Divisiveness across Ranking, Recommenders, and Governance
This working paper aims to articulate an interdisciplinary research and practice area focused around bridging systems.
Policy Brief
GETTING-Plurality Comments to White House OSTP on National Priorities for Artificial Intelligence
The GETTING-Plurality Research Network submitted a series of memos which respond to various questions posed around the topics of bolstering democracy and civic participation; protecting rights, safety, and national security; and promoting economic growth and good jobs.