Big Data

Military Strategy
commentary
The United States Can Achieve AI Dominance with Its Allies
James Ryseff
Oct 9, 2020
War on the Rocks
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.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
The Evidence on Kids and COVID-19, China's Use of Big Data, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap
Sep 4, 2020
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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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
Catholic Church and Tech Companies Join to Call for Transparency in AI
Patrick S. Roberts @RamblingRoberts
Mar 31, 2020
United Press International
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.
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Media Literacy
commentary
Our Actions Determine What We Read and See Online. Algorithms Are Only a Part of That Process
Tor Richardson-Golinski, Amelia Harshfield, Advait Deshpande
Feb 7, 2020
Open Access Government
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.
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Information Operations
commentary
Artificial Intelligence and the Manufacturing of Reality
Christopher Paul, Marek N. Posard @mnposard
Jan 20, 2020
Strategy Bridge
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.
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Intelligence Analysis
q&a
Intel, Ethics, and Emerging Tech: Q&A with Cortney Weinbaum
Aug 23, 2019
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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The Internet
commentary
Three 'New Rules' Worth Considering for the Internet
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
May 10, 2019
TechCrunch
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.
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Bioethics
commentary
Biology, in the Language of the People
Timothy Marler, Dona Odell
Feb 21, 2019
Annals of Biostatistics & Biometric Applications
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.
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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
Does the U.S. Face an AI Ethics Gap?
Benjamin Boudreaux
Jan 11, 2019
RealClearDefense
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.
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commentary
Data Breaches Could Cause Users to Opt Out of Sharing Personal Data. Then What?
Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung
Dec 28, 2018
United Press International
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?
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commentary
Intentional Bias Is Another Way Artificial Intelligence Could Hurt Us
Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung
Oct 22, 2018
Scientific American
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.
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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
Keeping Artificial Intelligence Accountable to Humans
Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba
Aug 20, 2018
TechCrunch
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.
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Artificial Intelligence
q&a
The Human Side of Artificial Intelligence: Q&A with Osonde Osoba
May 1, 2018
Osonde Osoba has been exploring AI since age 15. He says it's less about the intelligence and more about being able to capture how humans think. He is developing AI to improve planning and is also studying fairness in algorithmic decisionmaking in insurance pricing and criminal justice.
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Artificial Intelligence
article
How Artificial Intelligence Could Increase the Risk of Nuclear War
Apr 24, 2018
Advances in artificial intelligence have provoked a new kind of arms race among nuclear powers. AI could challenge the basic rules of nuclear deterrence and lead to catastrophic miscalculations.
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Data Privacy
blog
'Alexa, What Do You Know About Me, and Who Are You Telling?'
Mar 1, 2018
RAND experts held a wide-ranging discussion about artificial intelligence and privacy. They raised questions about fairness and equity regarding privacy and data use, while also highlighting positive trends and developments across the evolving AI-privacy landscape.
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Integrated Care
commentary
Collaboration Is the Best Strategy to Combat Population Health Concerns
Vivian L. Towe
Dec 14, 2017
The Hill
The greatest opportunities to improve health happen pretty much everywhere but the doctor's office. Collaborative programming that merges strategies from housing, education, or labor could make a big difference.
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Big Data
essay
Big Data, Big Questions
Oct 16, 2017
RAND-Lex is a computer program that can scan millions of lines of text and identify what people are talking about, how they fit into communities, and how they see the world. The program has shed light on how terrorists communicate, how the American public thinks about health, and more.
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commentary
The Intersection of Algorithms and an Individual's Rights
Dan Grunfeld
Sep 29, 2017
Daily Journal
Data collection, and our reliance on it, have evolved extremely rapidly. The resulting algorithms have proved invaluable for organizing, evaluating and utilizing information. How do individuals' rights come in to play, when data about their lives is compiled to create algorithms, and the resulting tools are applied to judge them?
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Criminal Justice
commentary
What Data Is the Government Keeping About You?
Dulani Woods, Brian A. Jackson
Mar 1, 2017
Inside Sources
Governments are amassing a wealth of data on citizens, a trend that will continue as technology advances. But with no reliable way to ensure that the data is accurate, risks abound. In the criminal justice system, for example, poor quality data could affect individual freedoms and employability.
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Data Analysis
commentary
No Company Should Be Able to Keep You from Checking Your Government's Math
Brian A. Jackson
Jan 18, 2017
Inside Sources
Data and computer models are becoming more and more important for making policy decisions on everything from prison sentences to tax bills. But citizens should be able to “check the math” on decisions that affect them.
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Data Privacy
commentary
Rethinking Data Privacy
Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba, John S. Davis II
Oct 5, 2016
Inside Sources
Society benefits from the exchange of large-scale data in many ways. Anonymization is the usual mechanism for addressing the privacy of data subjects. Unfortunately, anonymization is broken.
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Transportation Planning
commentary
Looking Out the Window to Transport in 2035
Charlene Rohr
Jun 27, 2016
The RAND Blog
The UK's roads, railways, and airports are some of the most congested in the world. Exploring future transport scenarios and the technologies that will drive them can help guide today's policy and investment decisions.
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The Internet
commentary
Strong Winds Ahead for Cloud Computing: Can Data Localization Threaten Future Growth?
Marlon Graf, Jakub P. Hlavka, Bonnie L. Triezenberg
Apr 29, 2016
The RAND Blog
A growing number of constraints have been imposed around the world on information in the cloud, fueling concerns that the Internet, the economic engine of the information age, may become hopelessly fragmented.
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Energy Consumption
essay
Power to the People: How Smart Grids Can Change the Way We Live
Apr 27, 2015
A modernized, 'smart' grid could change how much you pay for electricity, where it comes from, and how likely you are to lose it in a summer storm. But has the reality of the smart grid kept pace with the promise?
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