THIS MONTH’S BEST READS
How Democracies Can Beat Techno-Authoritarianism, The National Interest
The techno-authoritarian challenge to democracies is complex and multifaceted. It includes the rise of ubiquitous technical surveillance, the blocking of a citizenry’s access to unapproved sources of information, and the dissemination of disinformation and propaganda to domestic and international audiences. The techno-authoritarian challenge is also often described as a component of great power competition in which democracies like the United States and autocracies like China are promoting starkly different visions for the role of technology in society.
Social media AIs are a convenient scapegoat for the decline of democracy. But we should look deeper, May 1, The Star
Will all those algorithms, which feast on fear and loathing, keep polarizing our politics and undermining democracies? Those are the questions we grappled with at a conference on the risks — and realities — of AI at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. The first thing you learn about machine learning, the dominant form of AI, is not to let its daunting complexity scare the wits out of you. AI is not rocket science, nor is it reinventing political science. It’s a data tool that can be used and abused, depending on how humans — more precisely, politicians — handle its powers.
To make AI fair, here’s what we must learn to do, 4 May 2022, Nature
From New York City to California and the European Union, many artificial intelligence (AI) regulations are in the works. The intent is to promote equity, accountability and transparency, and to avoid tragedies similar to the Dutch childcare-benefits scandal. But these won’t be enough to make AI equitable. There must be practical know-how on how to build AI so that it does not exacerbate social inequality. In my view, that means setting out clear ways for social scientists, affected communities and developers to work together.
Cyber Blue Helmets – Can Cyber Peacekeepers Help Sustain Peace in Cyberspace? 2 May 2022, NYU CIC
In 2016, the UN launched the Digital Blue Helmets (DBH) program to serve as a “common platform for rapid information exchange and better coordination of protective and defensive measures against information technology security incidents for the United Nations, including agencies, funds and programs.” The DBH program is part of UN efforts to build capacity, strengthen coordination, and foster collaboration to enhance cybersecurity preparedness, resilience, and the response of the United Nations. No doubt these efforts are needed, especially in the context of recent increased attacks on UN missions and agencies.
Where anonymity on Twitter is a matter of life or death, 6 May 2022, The rest of World
“Anonymity provides a sort of basic protection for individuals who are engaging in online space in authoritarian or repressive, or even socially difficult, situations,” said David Kaye, a clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, and the former U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression. “Free speech includes anonymous speech. Do you plan to undermine anonymity and change the [rule of] anonymous accounts that has been a signature feature of Twitter?”
What does the future of autonomous warfare look like? Four critical questions, answered, 13 May 2022
As warfare is increasingly dictated by machines, critical questions around strategy, technology, and morality arise at every turn. But there’s one thing we know for sure: There’s no reversing the rise of autonomous systems. The upcoming NEXUS 22 symposium, hosted by Applied Intuition in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, will bring together senior leaders to discuss the complex issues at the intersection of national security, defense, and autonomous systems. Ahead of the gathering, experts from the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Forward Defense practice addressed the most important questions about these systems and how they will shape the future of warfare.
If Tech Fails to Design for the Most Vulnerable, It Fails Us All, 15 May 2022
The same steps could protect users in all these contexts. If the builders of these tools had designed their apps by focusing on safety in high-risk environments—for persons who are often seen as the more “extreme” or “edge” cases and therefore ignored—the weaponization that users fear would not be possible, or at the very least they would have tools to manage their risk.
The geopolitics of technology: How the EU can become a global player, 17 May 2022
As for the European Union, the Brussels institutions are trying to shape global standards of privacy and data protection, digital platforms, and AI according to European values using the attractiveness and power of its internal market. The EU also promotes digital partnerships with like-minded countries and allies – and announced, in December 2021, the “Global Gateway” initiative as the EU version of China’s DSR.
Social media companies are facing pressure to start archiving war crimes evidence. How will that work? 24 May 2022
Long before politicians caught on, Alexa Koenig, the executive director of the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley, was working on how social media can be used as evidence in international courts — and how companies can do a better job of preserving it. In the report Digital Lockers: Archiving Social Media Evidence of Atrocity Crimes, Koenig and her team outlined how social media platforms can transform from “accidental and unstable archives for human rights content” to vaults of evidence accessible to investigators and prosecutors. Going a step further, the team at the Human Rights Center created a framework for using digital open source information in international courts.
More consensus needed over digital technology for ‘people and the planet’ 23 May 2022
“We have a critical opportunity to build consensus on how digital technologies can be used for the good of people and the planet, while addressing their risks,” Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told the Security Council.
“But collective action by Member States remains essential towards this goal”.
New technologies risk making warfare deadlier for civilians, 21 May 2022
Today’s wars are not waged solely through kinetic operations on the battlefield. They are fought across multiple domains that see sophisticated new technologies harnessed alongside more traditional munitions. The Ukraine conflict is just the latest example. The impact of new technologies on conflict, humanitarian action and international humanitarian law (IHL) is of growing importance to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC.) New technology is not only changing the means and methods of warfare, but also the ways in which humanitarian actors respond.
