Big Data

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Tracking Migration Amid War and Disease

Researchers from RAND and RAND Europe have been working on a way to better track migrant numbers, country by country and state by state, in almost real time. They do it by tapping into one of the largest information-gathering operations on the planet, Facebook.

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Terrorism Research: How RAND Defined and Built a New Field of Knowledge

In the early 1970s, amid a worldwide rash of bombings, hijackings, and hostage-takings, RAND researchers began creating the first international database of terrorist incidents. Maintained until 2009, it chronicles more than 40,000 terrorist attacks since 1968.

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Reining in COVID-19 Disinformation from China, Russia, and Elsewhere

During the pandemic, misinformation and conspiracy theories have spread more virulently than ever before. The vast scale of the problem means scalable solutions like machine learning could be needed to rein in the bots, trolls, and conspiracy theories being spread by bad-faith actors.

Christian Johnson, William Marcellino

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The United States Can Achieve AI Dominance with Its Allies

Close collaborators in any AI alliance must be able to usefully contribute to the work and be trustworthy enough to share in cutting-edge technical advancements. While achieving this close collaboration with allies may be difficult, it will be essential if the United States hopes to achieve the data dominance needed to succeed in future combat.

James Ryseff

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The Evidence on Kids and COVID-19, China's Use of Big Data, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on what we know (and what we don't) about kids and COVID-19, how China is using big data, the future of telemedicine, and more.

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Catholic Church and Tech Companies Join to Call for Transparency in AI

The Catholic Church joined with technology companies in February to release the “Rome Call for AI Ethics,” which it hopes will lend meaning if not governance frameworks for the use of artificial intelligence. Making sure that “everyone can benefit” from AI by making its discoveries widely available will be important. This is perhaps where the church can be most effective.

Patrick S. Roberts @RamblingRoberts

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Our Actions Determine What We Read and See Online. Algorithms Are Only a Part of That Process

As social media has increasingly become the main outlet for people to acquire news and opinion, there are concerns about the effect of algorithm-driven services on the spread of misleading information. But the issue doesn't merely lie with how social platforms use algorithms to deliver content.

Tor Richardson-Golinski, Amelia Harshfield, et al.

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Artificial Intelligence and the Manufacturing of Reality

Humans carry flaws in deciding what is or is not real. The internet and other technologies have made it easier to weaponize and exploit these flaws. And artificial intelligence will likely be used to exploit these weaknesses at an unprecedented scale, speed, and level of effectiveness.

Christopher Paul, Marek N. Posard @mnposard

q&a

Intel, Ethics, and Emerging Tech: Q&A with Cortney Weinbaum

Cortney Weinbaum studies topics related to intelligence and cyber policy as a senior management scientist at RAND. In this interview, she discusses challenges facing the intelligence community, the risks of using AI as a solution, and ethics in scientific research.

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Three 'New Rules' Worth Considering for the Internet

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has called for new internet regulation starting in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy, and data portability. But why stop there? His proposal could be expanded to include much more: security-by-design, net worthiness, and updated internet business models.

Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein

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Biology, in the Language of the People

As technology and the ability to gather ever-growing amounts of data move further into the realms of biology and human performance, communication and transparency become increasingly important. Experts should consider whether they are using the words, examples, and models that connect with a broad audience most effectively.

Timothy Marler, Dona Odell

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Does the U.S. Face an AI Ethics Gap?

Instead of worrying about an artificial intelligence “ethics gap,” U.S. policymakers and the military community could embrace a leadership role in AI ethics. This may help ensure that the AI arms race doesn't become a race to the bottom.

Benjamin Boudreaux

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Data Breaches Could Cause Users to Opt Out of Sharing Personal Data. Then What?

As tech-based systems have become all but indispensable, many institutions might assume user data will be reliable, meaningful and, most of all, plentiful. But what if this data became unreliable, meaningless, or even scarce?

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

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Intentional Bias Is Another Way Artificial Intelligence Could Hurt Us

Conversations about unconscious bias in artificial intelligence often focus on algorithms unintentionally causing disproportionate harm to entire swaths of society. But the problem could run much deeper. Society should be on guard for the possibility that nefarious actors could deliberately introduce bias into AI systems.

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

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Keeping Artificial Intelligence Accountable to Humans

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are often only as intelligent and fair as the data used to train them. To enable AI that frees humans from bias instead of reinforcing it, experts and regulators must think more deeply not only about what AI can do, but what it should do—and then teach it how.

Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba