Additional Resource
Policy Brief
Plural Publics
The authors highlight why we believe the problem of “plural publics” to be a core challenge of data governance, discuss existing tools that can help achieve it and a research agenda to further develop and integrate these tools.
By:
-
![]()
Divya Siddarth
-
![]()
Glen Weyl
-
![]()
Shrey Jain
Programs
Issues
Data governance is usually conceptualized in terms of “privacy” v. “publicity”. Yet a core feature of pluralistic societies is association, groups that share with each other, privately. These are a diversity of “publics”, each externally private but with the ability to coordinate and share internally. Empowering them requires tools that allow the establishment of shared communicative contexts and their defense against external sharing outside of context. The ease of spreading information online has challenged such “contextual integrity” and the rise of generative foundation models like GPT-4 may radically exacerbate this challenge. In the face of this challenge, we highlight why we believe the problem of “plural publics” to be a core challenge of data governance, discuss existing tools that can help achieve it and a research agenda to further develop and integrate these tools.
Related Resources
Additional Resource
AI & Democracy: Perspectives from an Emerging Field
The Allen Lab is proud to have contributed to this timely landscape report from The David & Lucile Packard Foundation mapping the emerging field of AI and democracy.
Commentary
India & the Olympics of AI
Allen Lab Fellow Jeremy McKey reflects on India’s AI Impact Summit, exploring the theme of diffusion and the implications for sovereignty and democracy.
Additional Resource
After Neoliberalism Conference Demonstrates Promise of Pluralism for New Paths forward on Political Economy
Additional Resource
AI & Democracy: Perspectives from an Emerging Field
The Allen Lab is proud to have contributed to this timely landscape report from The David & Lucile Packard Foundation mapping the emerging field of AI and democracy.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – Trump and His Billionaire Allies Make their Move on the Media
Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center director and former TIME editor Nancy Gibbs joins co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss the impacts of billionaire media consolidation and pressure from the Trump administration on the flow of information vital to democracy.