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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

James Bryant Conant University Professor

Darshan Goux

Darshan Goux

Senior Lab Director, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation

Sarah Hubbard

Sarah Hubbard

Associate Director for Technology & Democracy, 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

Tessel van Oirsouw

Tessel van Oirsouw

EthicAI and Former Visiting Fellow, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation

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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Political Economy of AI Essay Collection

Political Economy of AI Essay Collection

Earlier this year, the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation hosted a convening on the Political Economy of AI. This collection of essays from leading scholars and experts raise critical questions surrounding power, governance, and democracy as they consider how technology can better serve the public interest.

Watching the Generative AI Hype Bubble Deflate

Additional Resource

Watching the Generative AI Hype Bubble Deflate

As a part of the Allen Lab’s Political Economy of AI Essay Collection, David Gray Widder and Mar Hicks draw on the history of tech hype cycles to warn against the harmful effects of the current generative AI bubble.

AI and Practicing Democracy

Additional Resource

AI and Practicing Democracy

As a part of the Allen Lab’s Political Economy of AI Essay Collection, Emily S Lin and Marshall Ganz call on us to reckon with how humans create, exercise, and structure power, in hopes of meeting our current technological moment in a way that aligns with our values.

Medicare Advantage as Asset Management: The Pretense of Care Under Logics of Extraction

Additional Resource

Medicare Advantage as Asset Management: The Pretense of Care Under Logics of Extraction

As a part of the Allen Lab’s Political Economy of AI Essay Collection, Ajeet Singh explores how AI technologies deployed in the health care sector often orient towards the extraction of greater surplus revenues at the expense of patient health.

Cooperative Paradigms for Artificial Intelligence

Additional Resource

Cooperative Paradigms for Artificial Intelligence

As a part of the Allen Lab’s Political Economy of AI Essay Collection, Sarah Hubbard explores alternative ownership and governance structures for artificial intelligence that may better serve the public interest.

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

Sunset and Renew: Section 230 Should Protect Human Speech, Not Algorithmic Virality

Commentary

Sunset and Renew: Section 230 Should Protect Human Speech, Not Algorithmic Virality

Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation Senior Fellow Allison Stanger, in collaboration with Jaron Lanier and Audrey Tang, advocate for a “repeal and renew” approach to Section 230 in an effort to reform the current social media ecosystem.

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
tech background with a square in the middle

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.

Building a Digital Democracy with Audrey Tang and Megan Smith

Video

Building a Digital Democracy with Audrey Tang and Megan Smith

The “Building a Digital Democracy” panel brought together Audrey Tang, Megan Smith, Professor Danielle Allen, and Professor Mathias Risse for a conversation on how technology is being used to transform our political institutions.

Conference on the Political Economy of AI Podcast Episodes

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
Graphic that includes all of the book covers mentioned in this list.

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.

AI and the 2024 Elections
A futuristic sign is covered in circuits and reads

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.