Science, Technology, and Public Policy

What if racism, sexism, and ableism aren't just glitches in mostly functional machinery—what if they're coded into our technological systems?

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Meredith Broussard, Associate Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University. In a talk entitled "Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech," Broussard will explore why neutrality in tech is a myth and how algorithms can be held accountable.

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Daniel Weitzner, 3Com Founders Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Founding Director of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative. In a talk entitled "Black Hat, White Hat, Green Eyeshades: Improving Cybersecurity through Risk Pricing Models," Weitzner will discuss the benefits of (currently unattainable) cyber risk pricing metrics and a new approach for achieving them.

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Join us for an Energy Policy Seminar featuring Eyck Freymann, joint Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative and Columbia University. Freymann will give a talk on "Chinese Perspectives on Climate Geopolitics." Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. The seminar will also be streamed via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page (typically one week later). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Sponsors: The Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program, the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability

Russia’s preparation for malicious cyber activities began long before the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In fact, one could argue that preparations and operations have been executing for more than a decade. 

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Melissa Hathaway, President of Hathaway Global Strategies and former Senior Advisor to the Belfer Center's Cyber Project. In a talk entitled "Malicious Cyber Activities: Russia-Ukraine and the Surrounding Territories," Hathaway will discuss how Russia has honed its precision operations through a sophisticated execution and conquer of targets and access.

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Marc Rotenberg, founder and president of the Center for AI and Digital Policy. Rotenberg will give a talk entitled "The Emergence of Legal Norms for the Governance of AI."

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Speaker: David M. Allison, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

As geopolitical and technological shifts challenge the underpinnings of nuclear deterrence, the implications of a nuclear taboo become increasingly important. Crucially, if the prohibition against nuclear use is binding, improved counterforce capabilities should have no effect on support for use. This seminar presents the results of a series of experiments designed to identify taboo believers and measure the durability of their commitment to nuclear non-use by increasing their perceptions of the military effectiveness of counterforce strikes. 

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Please register in advance for this seminar: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvc-uorTkoG9C3zILDI0wrhkBFNJWCkWIU

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Piotr Sapiezynski, Associate Research Scientist at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. In a talk entitled "Discrimination Through Optimization," Sapiezynski will discuss the role of online advertising platforms' delivery optimization processes in perpetuating - and potentially preventing - discrimination in digital advertising.

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Would you pay to wear an ankle monitor? How about a Fitbit?

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Chris Gilliard, Professor of English at Macomb Community College. In a talk entitled "Luxury Surveillance," Gilliard will discuss the proliferation of devices that people pay for and whose tracking, monitoring, and quantification features are understood by the user as benefits - as well as how those devices can and are being leveraged against people by their employers, the government, their neighbors, stalkers, and domestic abusers. 

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring civil rights attorney Peter Romer-Friedman, a principal at Gupta Wessler PLLC. Romer-Friedman will give a talk entitled "The Fight for a Future Free of Digital Redlining."

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

When algorithms fall short of articulated expectations, people get hurt. Algorithm audits can help hold those who build artificial intelligence (AI) systems accountable for the consequences of their actions.

Join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Deborah Raji, Mozilla Fellow and CS PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley. Raji will give a talk entitled "Audits and Accountability in the Age of Automated Decision Systems."

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.