Our Work
This article, in US magazine Barron's, explores how to think about the privacy risks of app-based contact-tracing in the age of big data, arguing that even if tech companies choose wisely and justly, the 'laws' of their operating systems cannot be legitimate. Democratic institutions are the only means we've discovered to legitimate the use of power in complex social systems.
Read MoreIn a paper published in Plos One, Colin Klein and co-authors shed light on the online world of conspiracy theorists, by studying a large set of user comments. Their key findings were that people who eventually engage with conspiracy forums differ from those who don’t in both where and what they post. The patterns of difference suggest they actively seek out sympathetic communities, rather than passively stumbling into problematic beliefs.
Read MoreSeth Lazar and Colin Klein question the value of basing design decisions for autonomous vehicles on massive online gamified surveys. Sometimes the size of big data can't make up for what it omits.
Read MoreIn this article, co-authored with epidemiologist Meru Sheel, Seth Lazar questions whether tech companies or democratically-elected governments should decide how to weigh privacy against public health, when fundamental rights are not at stake.
Read MoreClaire Benn and Seth Lazar recorded an interview with Rashna Farrukh for the Philosopher’s Zone podcast on Radio National. The theme: moral skill and artificial intelligence. Does the automation of moral labour threaten to diminish our capacity for moral judgment, much as automation in other areas has negatively impacted human skill?
Read MoreColin Klein was interviewed by ABC Drive and 2CC Canberra about conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 and the role of online information platforms such as twitter in propagating misinformation.
Read MoreShould hate speech on social media be regulated? Can it? This piece outlines current US debates on this issue and situates the problem in its global context, drawing on examples of effective and potential regulation in Europe and in emerging markets.
Read MoreThis piece outlines the approach taken by social media companies to the discovery of Chinese-linked coordinated activity on their networks which appeared to be targeted at political activity in Hong Kong. It suggests the removal of such accounts is complicated by social media companies' business models.
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