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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


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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.

Advancements in Global AI Policy

Video

Advancements in Global AI Policy

The “Advancements in Global AI Policy” webinar featured the following speakers and topics:

            Regulating Web3: Global Trends and Challenges

            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

            Summit on AI and Democracy

            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.

            Reimagining Democracy for AI

            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.

            The Dark Side of AI: Crime and Adversarial Use Cases

            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