In this episode, we invite you to listen in on a recent AEI event on the book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (Harper Academic, 2021). On June 22, 2023, AEI’s Brent Orrell and Shane Tews were joined by Rob Reich of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and Jeremy M. Weinstein of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies to discuss their book, which they co-authored along with their fellow Stanford professor Mehran Sahami.

The panelists discuss the challenges that Big Tech in the 21st century—particularly artificial intelligence—poses to democracy. They explore the dangers of the "optimizing" mindset that competition in technology encourages; the trade-offs between the values of privacy, safety, agency, and productivity; the rise of misinformation and disinformation; and issues of power concentration and regulatory capture in the technology sector.

Mentioned in the Episode

System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot

Rob Reich

Mehran Sahami

Jeremy Weinstein

Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI

“Get Rich U.” in the New Yorker

DoNotPay - Your AI Consumer Champion

Facebook “Connect the World” Memo

Sen. Schumer’s SAFE Innovation Framework

AI Bill of Rights

NIST AI Risk Management Framework

The Precautionary Principle

EU AI Act