84 Items

Text from the ChatGPT page of the OpenAI website is shown in this photo, in New York, Feb. 2, 2023.

AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

We Don’t Need to Reinvent our Democracy to Save it from AI

| Feb. 09, 2023

When is it time to start worrying about artificial intelligence interfering in our democracy? asks Bruce Schneier. "Maybe when an AI writes a letter to The New York Times opposing the regulation of its own technology. That happened last month. And because the letter was responding to an essay we wrote, we're starting to get worried. And while the technology can be regulated, the real solution lies in recognizing that the problem is human actors—and those we can do something about."

Book - W.W. Norton & Company

A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend Them Back

| February 2023

A hack is any means of subverting a system’s rules in unintended ways. In A Hacker’s Mind, Bruce Schneier takes hacking out of the world of computing and uses it to analyze the systems that underpin our society: from tax laws to financial markets to democracy. He reveals an array of powerful actors whose hacks bend our economic, political, and legal systems to their advantage, at the expense of everyone else.

Maryland voters at voting booth

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Analysis & Opinions - PBS NEWSHOUR

Security Expert Bruce Schneier Warns of AI Tools’ Potential Threat to Democracy

| Feb. 04, 2023

Artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically alter how we gather information, communicate and work. Experts are also raising questions about how it will affect governance and what it will mean for the future of our democracy. Bruce Schneier, a fellow at the Belfer Center, joins PBS' William Brangham to discuss.

Josephine Wolff

Liza Xiao

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Series Explores AI and Algorithm Regulations and Practices

| Fall 2022

This fall, the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program (STPP) brought back the popular AI Cyber Lunch seminar series to explore issues at the forefront of technology and, increasingly, public policy. The hybrid seminar series, organized by Cyber Project Fellow and HKS Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy Bruce Schneier and STPP Fellow Cathy O’Neil, brought a wide range of speakers to Harvard Kennedy School to discuss how new and emerging technologies can be harnessed to enhance, rather than harm, society.

The Hardin Generating Station

AP Photo/Matthew Brown

Analysis & Opinions - The Atlantic

How to Decarbonize Crypto

| Dec. 06, 2022

Maintaining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies causes about 0.3 percent of global CO2 emissions. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s more than the emissions of Switzerland, Croatia, and Norway combined. As many cryptocurrencies crash and the FTX bankruptcy moves into the litigation stage, regulators are likely to scrutinize the crypto world more than ever before. This presents a perfect opportunity to curb their environmental damage.

The good news is that cryptocurrencies don’t have to be carbon intensive. In fact, some have near-zero emissions. To encourage polluting currencies to reduce their carbon footprint, we need to force buyers to pay for their environmental harms through taxes.