Newsletter: Reimagining Technology
Issue 1: ‘Platform Democracy’—a very different way to govern big tech
Issue 2: Governance of AI, with AI, through deliberative democracy
Recent Work: Generative CI • Bridging-based ranking • Platform democracy• A compass for social technologies • Building wise systems • Contextualization engines • (see more)
Formal Bio: Aviv Ovadya (@metaviv) works at the intersection of AI, platforms, democracy, and deliberation. He is a research fellow at newDemocracy; an affiliate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, and the Centre for the Governance of AI; a founder of the AI & Democracy Foundation (soon to be launched); and consults for civil society organizations, technology companies, and funders.
Aviv's primary focus is on ensuring that the governance of AI can keep up with the rate of AI advances, building on lessons from applied deliberative democracy to enable effective transnational governance and alignment. This involves framing (e.g., "Platform Democracy"), theory (e.g., "Generative CI"), and applied work: accelerating efforts to build out and pilot the organizational and technical infrastructure for deliberative governance (formally or informally advising efforts at Meta, Twitter, and OpenAI).
Aviv’s related work explores how we can make our information ecosystem and decision-making systems robust in the face of new technologies. This has involved measurement, mapping harm dynamics, identifying potential levers, navigating limitations (e.g. of generative AI detection), advocating for improvements in red teaming, and ensuring that social media ranking systems can bridge divides instead of fomenting division.
Aviv received his BS and MEng degrees in computer science from MIT, and worked in industry in San Francisco and internationally before transitioning to focus exclusively on the societal implications of technology. He has worked in roles including the Chief Technologist for the Center for Social Media Responsibility (University of Michigan), and consulted for and advised organizations including the Partnership on AI, the Civic Health Project, Meedan, and Cohere.
Aviv's work has been covered regularly, including by the BBC, NPR, the Economist, and The New York Times and his writing has been published by WIRED, Bloomberg, HBR, the MIT Technology Review, and the Washington Post.
Informal Bio: 👋 Hi! I currently live near Boston, though I am almost as likely to be found anywhere else in the world, giving talks, collaborating on projects, or participating in convenings (well, and dancing — though generally not all at the same time). I also advise and consult for technology companies, researchers, foundations, and policymakers.
My goal is to ensure that our technologies can facilitate a 'good society'—that they not only support our everyday lives, but also promote the collective trust and wise decision-making necessary for taking on existential global challenges.
Before I was as fully focused on the impacts of technology on society, I got my S.B. and M.Eng. degrees in computer science at MIT and did research, software engineering, and product design for organizations as varied as Amazon, the MIT Media Lab, MIT CSAIL, Quora, Trove, Ironclad, and Google. I've worked primarily in the United States, but also done short stints in Brazil, Australia, and Vietnam. I enjoy combining science, computing, and art (my masters' thesis involved origami transformers) and I am a proud coauthor of the broccoli emoji. 🥦
Stay in touch on twitter @metaviv, @aviv@mastodon.online, and via my newsletter.
Email me at "aviv@ this website".