Our questions of the year Hey thereā I know this is likely one of many year-end reflection emails in your inbox, so thanks for even opening! In our final newsletter of 2024 we wanted to center the questions we were most driven by this year, and weāll wrap this up with our 2025 plans and opportunities to work with you. Whatās been on our radar in 2024? The question: Who are the dominant voices in AI coverage, and how are they shaping the narrative? The action: We dug deep into this with our...
4 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
š§ Technologyās role in the climate crisis Hello all ā just a quick podcast update from us. Weāve recently wrapped up a miniseries called Net0++. We interviewed activists, researchers, a journalist, and even an expert in concrete (yep) ā to help us explore how the tech industryās business model is worsening the climate crisis. In Big Dirty Data Centres, we heard from Jenna Ruddock and Boxi Wu, who shared their work on data centre expansion ā which has ramped up with the AI hype ā and how local...
4 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Breaking the wave of harmful AI Hi Reader, Since the US election, weāve been reflecting a lot on the power of collaboration and coordination to address the complex, structural challenges weāre facing. One voice can make a difference, but many voices, working together, can effect real change. And when we consistently act in concert, incremental progress can snowball into something much bigger - a movement. This month (and beyond), weāre focusing on both amplifying the voices of experts and...
4 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Trump just won the presidency ā what do we do now? Hey there, Just before the election we had a drafted a normal newsletter about the impacts AI did or didnāt have on the election. But like many of the conversations about technology politics, it feels like we missed the forest for the trees. š§ Prathm and I sat down to reflect and discuss what this outcome might mean for the technology politics work weāre all doing. You can listen here. I also wanted to share my thinking at the personal,...
5 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Hello friends of CSM! This year weāve had a bottomless brunch of big tech trials, which somehow feels like progress but also sort of likeā¦ weāre slowly getting nowhere? We wanted to understand better what it means to take big tech to court: in what ways are they ducking out of being accountable for their harms? What kinds of expert witnesses are litigators calling on to build a case? And what makes an expert witness anyway? Yep, itās a lot. A few weeks ago, we wrapped up a podcast miniseries...
6 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Laws are like pancakes Hi hi hello everyone ā weāve just wrapped up our podcast series on FAccT. In case you werenāt aware that this series even existed and you now feel woefully behind, hereās a quick rundown: First I spoke to Andrew Strait about our favourite papers presented at the conference; it was a great chat and a good overview of what FAccT even is. Then I interviewed the authors of three of my favourite papersā¦ In Abandoning Algorithms I Interviewed Nari Johnson and Sanika Moharana...
9 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
What the FAccT? Hello hello everyone ā a couple of weeks ago I was at FAccT, and I read loads of interesting research papers, lots of which had relevant findings on technology politics issues, and some that were too wonky to really absorb. After spending a week surrounded by smart people working on issues Iām interested in, I have some thoughts on the general state of this type of technology research. If you prefer the medium of voice, I actually had a great conversation (at least I enjoyed...
9 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Hello! You might have followed the sit-in of Google employees protesting Project Nimbus, a cloud infrastructure contract with the Israeli government. I sat down with one of the core organisers, Dr Kate Sim, to talk more about it. Listen to the conversation here! We discuss how the sit-in came about, how she distinguishes between moral and immoral B2B relationships with countries, and the role that employees should play in shaping the mission and focus of businesses. Iām still left with...
10 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
The Human in the Loop Hi Reader, This month we hosted our first New Protagonist meetup. This was a chance for our members to learn more about each other, and share dominant narratives that stuck out to them recently. Weāre aiming to host these monthly so that we donāt lose steam in thinking through these issues together. Remember, if you want to be part of the New Protagonist Network, please register your interest here! šļø New podcast episode: whatās it like to work in the AI supply chain?...
11 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read