Episode 23: The Myths of Genius, IP, and Surveillance ft. Chris Gilliard

This month, Jack and Shobita discuss the resignation of the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, African scientists' success in copying the Moderna vaccine and the potential long-term implications, and the politics of long COVID. And we speak with scholar and writer Chris Gilliard about the rise of surveillance technologies, their implications especially for marginalized communities, and what we can do about it.

Related links:

- Chris Gilliard (2022). "Crime Prediction Keeps Society Stuck in the Past." WIRED. January 2.

- Chris Gilliard (2021). "A Black Woman Invented Home Security. Why Did It Go So Wrong?" WIRED. November 14.

- Chris Gilliard and David Golumbia (2021). "Luxury Surveillance." Real Life. July 6.

- Chris Gilliard (2020). "Caught in the Spotlight." Urban Omnibus. January 9.

- Chris Gilliard (2018). "Friction-Free Racism." Real Life. October 15.

- Will Oremus (2021). "A Detroit community college professor is fighting Silicon Valley’s surveillance machine. People are listening." The Washington Post. September 17.

- Alex Thompson (2022). "Biden’s top science adviser bullied and demeaned subordinates, according to White House investigation." Politico. February 7.

- Amy Maxmen (2022). "South African scientists copy Moderna’s COVID vaccine." Nature. February 3.

Study Questions:

1. Can you think of additional examples of luxury and imposed surveillance? What are their similarities and differences?
2. What are the limitations to the consent model for accessing digital technologies? What harms might it cause?
3. Think of a common digital technology that clearly produces social harm (e.g., Facebook, facial recognition technology). How might you redesign it to maximize the social benefits while limiting the harms?
4. How might governments regulate emerging digital technologies to maximize societal benefits?

Transcript available at thereceivedwisdom.org