Jason Stanley

Last week I gave a talk titled "Search and Society: Reimagining Information Access for Radical Futures" at the Canadian AI Responsible AI event. Slides: https://lnkd.in/estEC4QV If you download the slides, the speaker notes contain the full transcript of my talk. This talk touched on 3 of my recent papers/manuscripts. 1. I talked about the Consequences-Mechanisms-Risks (CMR) framework introduced in our #FAccT2024 paper. https://lnkd.in/ehvFpvAW 2. Then I discussed the sociotechnical implications of generative AI for information access. This was based on an early draft of our chapter for a book that Chirag Shah and Ryen White are co-editing. https://lnkd.in/eVGbsSnt 3. Finally, I talked about challenging today's homogenized sociotechnical imaginaries that drive information retrieval research in favor of diverse visions of possible futures informed by prefigurative politics and centering IR research on societal needs. https://lnkd.in/ehqjg3GQ It was my first time attending the Canadian AI conference and the Responsible AI event. I thoroughly enjoyed all the conversations. Big thanks to Ebrahim Bagheri for inviting me to give a talk at the event.

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🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 New Episode of the PolicyViz Podcast! I chat with Nicole Lachenmeier and Darjan Hil from Superdot Studio about their exciting new book, Visualizing Complexity: Modular Information Design Handbook, their process, and more. Listen to the episode to learn more about: ➡️Authors’ Journey in Data Design. Nicole and Darjan share their extensive experiences in the field and their emphasis on deliberate thinking, manual effort, and critical analysis as pillars of the design process. ➡️Understanding Basic Visualizations. We discuss the importance of mastering fundamental visualization techniques and using manual sketching as a vital tool for improving design skills and fostering creativity. ➡️Selecting Appropriate Charts. We talk about the complexities inherent in choosing the right chart for your data and how their approach can help you break down chart elements into elementary pieces. ➡️Book Creation and Integration. The authors share their collaborative process of merging visuals and text in their new boo 🎙 Listen: https://lnkd.in/eaJgCfx4 📺 Watch: https://lnkd.in/eDJM5rX4

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This Bank of Canada Staff Discussion Paper explores how digital payments, which dominate the payment landscape in Canada, can be made more cognitively accessible. In particular, the authors are focused on removing cognitive barriers present in many digital interfaces and products. They propose an inclusive approach since involving people with cognitive disabilities in design, testing, and refinement is crucial. The proposed framework centers on system learnability and user workload as the two key measures of cognitive accessibility in digital payment and banking interfaces. System learnability is determined by measuring first use learnability, steepness of the learning curve and efficiency of the ultimate plateau. Workload is determined by the sub-measures mental demand, temporal demand, frustration and performance. The framework is broadly applicable to digital and electronic payment methods. The authors develop and test a prototype interface for voice payments, which successfully demonstrates that the framework provides an effective iterative design approach to enhance cognitive accessibility and usability. The Bank of Canada can use this framework to create guidelines for more cognitively accessible electronic payment products, including a potential Digital Canadian Dollar. While the framework facilitates efficient evaluation, further validation is still needed. This framework should also be used with broader holistic usability and accessibility testing, recognizing that cognitive accessibility is just one aspect of the user experience.

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Our cultural record is more fragile than many of us realize. The recent article from the Internet Archive, "Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record" (https://lnkd.in/gsiTq3kQ), is a powerful reminder of just how much we stand to lose without serious commitment to digital preservation. Cultural heritage is not just art, literature, or history—it's the digital content that captures our shared human experiences. Without ongoing efforts to safeguard this information, much of it could vanish forever. Libraries, archives, and institutions dedicated to preserving these records are doing essential work to protect our digital legacy, but they need our support. I encourage everyone to read this report and reflect on how we can contribute to preserving our collective memory. Whether through advocacy, collaboration, or even simply raising awareness, there is a role for all of us in this effort. #DigitalPreservation #CulturalHeritage #Archives #InternetArchive #Libraries

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What exciting opportunities exist at the intersection of 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 and 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 (𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀)? Our recent work 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹-𝗟𝗟𝗠 explores this space with surveys, case studies, and key future directions! Key highlights: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 🌐 A collaboration between political science (@catherine-chen and Peng (Fred) Gui) and computer science (Yushun Dong and myself), supported by our students and collaborators from 30+ institutes worldwide. 𝟮. 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 "𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆" 🔍 We conducted case studies on political bias and feature generation in LLM-driven voting simulations, evaluating both bias and the quality of LLM-generated political features. 𝟯. 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 🚀 We identify 6 critical challenges, including data scarcity, fairness in predictions, and explainability, to guide impactful work at the intersection of AI and political science. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: 🌐 Online resource: https://political-llm.org/ 📄 Preprint: https://lnkd.in/gAdEVFEk #politicalscience #machinelearning #ai #llm

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"#Qualitative Research Design: Matching Constructs With Research Objectives" - Just as constructs tied to the research objectives provide a guiding light throughout the Credibility phase, they also help to steer Analyzability https://bit.ly/3zenVWZ #TQF

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SWAN, the "Stakeholders' Walkability/Wheelability Audit in Neighborhoods," is a sub-project of the "Mobility, Accessibility, and Participation of People with Disabilities (MAP)" partnership, under the Navigation and Pedestrian Environment stream. Our research team is located at the Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University, led by Dr. Atiya Mahmood. The SWAN tool was adopted to enable users with mobility, sensory, and cognitive disabilities to assess both objective and subjective features of street segments impacting their mobility and social participation. Utilizing our research findings, a short video was produced which sheds light on the lived experiences and challenges of older adults navigating the built environment: https://lnkd.in/gkwBQYMd To learn more, visit our website at https://lnkd.in/ghPAy2Qd 

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Fascinating read on how alignment/misalignment, especially in language and cultural aspects lead to potential & unfortunate (unintended) biases in LLMs https://buff.ly/3Ax5XQ3 #ai #llm #bias #humancenteredAI

The senate AI working group released their long awaited framework for AI legislation. Matching AI’s broad-based impact, this is an incredibly broad package. Overall this is decent, however the many positives are paired with a few concerning lows. Here's some highlight on what's inside: On the upside there is a clear emphasis on promoting innovation and diffusion including: 1. Talent development through possible upskilling incentives, federal talent development programs and fellowships, and security clearance fast tracking. 2. State capacity building through funding for IT modernization, public private partnerships to tackle key issues, and possible new voluntary survey to study AI economic impact and key issues. 3. Regulatory clarity though a regulatory gap analysis in the financial sector and a report from the comptroller general on “any significant federal statutes and regulations that affect the innovation of artificial intelligence systems, including the ability of companies of all sizes to compete in artificial intelligence.” On the downside we find: 1. Export controls: supporting the recently introduced ENFORCE Act, the Senate is considering AI export control authorities. It’s unclear what problem controls could solve, but almost certainly would create needless challenges for software and AI companies alike. 2. Possible pre-deployment certification: while non-committal the framework also opens the door to requirements for possible govenrment review of certain models. What this might look like, and how serious the senators are is unclear. That said, such testing is largely to be avoided. 3. Restricted Data: A dose of AI apocalysm with possible classification rules modeled on the Atomic Energy Act’s restricted data regime. This worryingly conflates AI and atomic materials. Restricted data classifies information upon existence. Absolutely discouraged. On top of these we also find a smattering of largely disconnected issues including online child safety, outer space security, and addressing the opioid crisis. As a general rule, any legislation should focus on the task at hand: AI. Lets avoid making any AI leg a congressional catch-all. All of this considered, I’m optimistic. The vast majority is productive or benign and provisions such as the CREATE AI Act’s research support are where we find the most support. That said, senators must avoid harmful restrictions and controls without empirical evidence of real problems. https://lnkd.in/eN6vqUGJ

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“One always has to ask: safe for whom?” Renee Sieber said. Putting responsibility for AI safety inside of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, a government department that is actively working to promote the technology, creates the risk that it will focus on making AI “safe for companies, potentially at the expense of individuals and communities,” she said. “The public doesn’t want to be experimented on, the public wants the government to be responsive to its well-founded skepticism of AI systems,” she said. Sieber said she thinks regulation needs to focus on accountability. There are already risks associated with facial-recognition systems that are more likely to misidentify Black people, for example, and questions of who’s liable if a chatbot makes a mistake — like an Air Canada bot that told a customer they could receive a refund that wasn’t available. But regulation takes time, which is difficult in the midst of an AI arms race, and can be complicated by the fact that governments may not know that AI is in a software update, for example, or because multinational tech companies have proven difficult for the Canadian government to effectively regulate." https://lnkd.in/eAhGGASr

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When you want to use #AI to tackle ambitious projects with purpose - you come to Vector Institute. An example of this is how BMO, TELUS and Vector Institute came together to build an AI toolkit to interpret satellite images quickly, aiding in tracking deforestation, agriculture, water bodies, and disaster responses. Most importantly, the companies collectively with Vector decided to open-source the toolkit to have a greater impact on our ecosystem. #ClimateChange #AI #Collaboration #Sustainability #Innovation #MachineLearning #VectorInstitute Eric Morrow Winnie C Vanessa D. Sandip Sahota John McNain Jacquelyn Morton Mangesh B. Athira Sudhakaran Pillai George Sutherland BMO TELUS Ivey Chiu TELUS AI Accelerator TELUS Environment Tony Gaffney Cameron Schuler Deval Pandya Himanshu Joshi Andres Rojas Vahid Reza Khazaie Marshall Wang Warren Ali Anna Matta

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Amplifying this new technical guide from Accessibility Standards Canada on accessible and equitable #AI developed by a technical committee chaired by Jutta Treviranus of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University. This valuable technical guide focuses on areas where people with #disabilities may face barriers to accessible participation in the design, development, and use of AI systems and equitable treatment by AI systems. Equity refers to fairness, justice, and freedom from discrimination. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and focuses on enabling all individuals to achieve the same outcomes. People with disabilities experience the extremes of both the opportunities and risks brought about by the deployment of AI. This guide offers guidance and directives that support ethical practices when implementing AI, which includes providing proactive guidance to prevent harm for people with disabilities in emerging applications of AI. For instance, the guide recommends that organizations: • Recognize that people with disabilities should be able to participate fully as stakeholders in all roles in the AI lifecycle. • Recognize that AI systems need to be accessible to people with disabilities. • Design, develop, procure, and/or customize AI systems that are accessible and equitable. • Conduct ongoing impact assessments, ethics oversight and monitoring of potential harms • Train personnel in accessible and equitable AI • Provide transparency, accountability and consent mechanism • Provide access to equivalent alternative approaches • Provide feedback, complaints, redress and appeals mechanisms ... and more! Check out the full technical guide here: https://lnkd.in/eV_raH7H #accessibleAI #a11y #accessibility #equitableAI #deia #responsibleAI #inclusiveAi #disabilityInclusion #diversityEquityInclusion

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AI Literacy - the best summary I've seen! Jennifer Stojkovic and Daniel Dominguez Figaredo. This report speaks to tech and non-tech readers about a critical topic many have been slow to acknowledge - the awareness levels of AI by ordinary people. "This paper discusses the characteristics of the “stakeholders first” approach, a framework based on the design of educational initiatives in the area of responsible AI, to address two limitations identified in the literature on AI literacy projects: (1) an emphasis on K-12 students, and the lack of responsible AI offerings for citizens and university students; and (2) an emphasis on the technical components of algorithmic systems and the lack of attention to the social implications of AI." I had the pleasure of working with Julia on an AI WEF report, and I am not surprised she took the time to write about this critical topic. Thank you, Julia. AIandYou #ailiteracy #aieducation #responsibleai #aigovernance https://lnkd.in/gWHQ_KG4 Julia Stoyanovich

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Proposing a framework for #AIPolicy: The current technology-centered approach to AI policy is resulting in fragmented and piecemeal efforts -- often decoupled from the intended real-world results. We lack a comprehensive AI policy framework to support coherent and effective policy making anchored in meaningful outcomes aligned with our collective social priorities. I propose a Social Outcomes and Priorities centered (SOP) framework for AI policy, its core components, and recommendations on their implementation for #USA (the framework is applicable globally). The SOP framework provides a mechanism to build policy and regulatory structure encouraging outcomes that strengthen society’s core foundations and offer uniform and equitable benefits while minimizing the risks. Check out the paper for more details. I’ll soon publish an executive summary with a tldr version. #artificialintelligence #policy #aiforsociety #technologypolicy #machinelearning #datascience #genai #generativeai #llm #aisafety #aicognition #aiandhumans #aiforgood #aiautomation #AIEthics #AIBias #AISafety #AIGovernance #AIPolicy #AIRegulation #AIPrivacy #AIFairness #AIAccountability #AITransparency #AIHumanRights #AISocialImpact #AIWorkforceImpact #AIEducationImpact #AIEnvironmentalImpact #AIDigitalDivide #AIAlgorithmicJustice #AIDataSovereignty #AIInformedConsent #AITrustBuilding #AIHumanAICollaboration #AIEthicalDesign #AIResponsibleInnovation #AISustainableDevelopment #AIInclusivity https://lnkd.in/ggsfgE55

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Presenting Monica Lopez, PhD as a key voice at the upcoming Digital Commons Governance Summit. Recognized among the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2023, Dr. Lopez is driving the conversation on responsible AI and the ethical application of emerging technologies. As a seasoned advisor, researcher, and educator, she champions a human-centered approach, advocating for ethical adoption to balance commercial opportunity with sustainable innovation. A faculty member at The Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University, Dr. Lopez combines private-sector insights with academic expertise in interdisciplinary courses at the intersection of AI, ethics, governance, and geopolitics. Her work spans pivotal sectors, including autonomous systems, healthcare, biotechnology, and intellectual property, equipping the next generation to lead as responsible global citizens. Join us on November 7, 2024, at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science to engage with leaders like Dr. Lopez as we redefine the future of digital governance. 📍 Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University 📅 November 7, 2024 🔗 Summit page: https://lnkd.in/g5s3Xgk4 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/gs-SAAWi About The Ostrom Project The Ostrom Project is a global movement toward the stewardship of digital commons. This project is aimed at redefining the landscape of digital governance, sustainability, and community-driven development, fostering resilient, equitable, and thriving digital commons.The Ostrom Project fosters a vibrant network of scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts dedicated to exploring and expanding the boundaries of digital commons. At the heart of our initiative is a robust research agenda aimed at uncovering innovative approaches to managing digital resources sustainably. Incubated by The Digital Economist, the initiative is grounded in the pioneering principles of Elinor Ostrom's polycentric governance. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dEjRQRu5 JOIN THE DIGITAL ECONOMIST DAVOS 2025 DELEGATION Davos 2025 marks our 5-year anniversary of leading transformative discussions, advancing sustainable global economic change. By joining The Digital Economist delegation, you will participate in exclusive networking opportunities, including The Digital Economist Welcome Dinner. Accommodations have been arranged to ensure a comfortable stay with easy access to key venues throughout the week. We are accepting expressions of interest until November 15, 2024, or until we are full, whichever comes first. For more information, contact us at [email protected], and we’ll provide further details. #DigitalCommons #GovernanceSummit #HarvardUniversity #IQSS #DigitalGovernance #TechInnovation #TheDigitalEconomist #OstromProject

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Check out our recent series of data publications on student parents--with one more coming shortly!

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Fascinating article on how big tech's data collection mirrors colonial practices. The authors argue that this "data grab" is a new form of exploitation, giving big tech immense power over people's lives. This deepens global inequalities, as big tech profits from vast amounts of our personal information. #colonialism #data #technology #inequality https://lnkd.in/gwCaWD3H

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Curious how AI actually affects the #climate? Want solid data and analysis rather than sound bites? Download this fascinating, valuable, data-rich resource about AI #climate impact. I was especially intrigued by the case study that analyzed five problems with Microsoft's claims about AI impact. I'm downloading a copy of this report for myself and for my favorite climate researcher. If I were leading #IT or AI, I'd also want a copy. Disclosure: Kerry O'Donnell and I were good friends in elementary school, and she was a whiz at mathematics and operations back then too.

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