Technology
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How Political Retaliation Led to the Waste of $50 Billion in Taxpayer Funds
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In 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a $1.2 trillion initiative aimed at overhauling the nation’s infrastructure. The bill was historic not just in scale but for its inclusion of a climate change mandate. This mandate demonstrates Biden’s commitment to environmental sustainability. The bipartisan legislation…
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Unmasking the Invisible Threat: Corporate America’s Battle Against AI Deepfakes
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In a stark demonstration of technological manipulation, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) recently faced a sophisticated deepfake scheme targeting its top leadership. CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan unwittingly became the subject of AI-generated videos meant to mislead investors and potentially manipulate stock market sentiments. Cybercriminals leveraged advanced artificial intelligence to…
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A Moral Dilemma: The Crises of Regulating Advanced Technology
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The Fourth Industrial Revolution is altering our business practices through advanced technologies. These changes encompass market disruptions caused by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, big data, and similar technologies across nearly every sector of the economy. While market disruptions are inevitable with growth in innovation, concerns arise from a regulatory…
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The Hidden Cost of Teletherapy
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Teletherapy became increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, an estimated 21% of U.S. adults used a teletherapy service, while mental health startups collectively raised $5.5 billion in funding. Websites such as BetterHelp, Cerebral, Ginger, ReGain, and TalkSpace, among others, connect users with therapists for virtual counseling sessions. Although…
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Is TikTok a National Security Threat?
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On March 7th, 2023, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to empower the Department of Commerce to ban the popular short video app TikTok. Over the past two years, the Federal Government has beleaguered TikTok, owned by the China-based company ByteDance. TikTok is the target of investigation because…
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The Race to the Starting Line: The Rise of CBDCs
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Data analysis and visualizations by Vishal Joseph. In the past decade, the value of cryptocurrencies and digital assets has grown exponentially, rising from $14 billion in 2015 to $2 trillion this March (Fig. 1). Figure 1: The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies over the last 7 years. Source: Coininfo.io Within cryptocurrencies,…
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Data Brokers: National Security Starts With Data Security
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On March 21st, 2022, location data broker X-Mode filed a lawsuit against one of its own clients for improperly reselling data to an unauthorized third-party. This is merely the most recent case of a data broker failing to protect sensitive data, whether through data breaches—all major data brokers have been…
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China is Working on Green Recovery Through New Infrastructure Policies
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China’s Central Economic Working Conference raised the New Infrastructure concept in 2018, including 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), industrial internet and Internet of Things (IoT). In April 2020, to cope with the negative socio-economic impact brought about by the pandemic, the National Development and Reform Commission released a revised categorization of…
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Solving Public Problems: An Interview with Dr. Beth Simone Noveck
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This article was co-authored by Molly Smith and Ellie Vorhaben. Dr. Beth Simone Noveck is a professor at Northeastern University where she is core faculty at the Institute of Experiential AI, and director of the Burnes Family Center for Global Impact. She is the Director of The Governance Lab, a…
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Is the CHIPS Act the Answer to the US Microchip Crisis?
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Semiconductor microchips are a critical component of nearly every device we consider essential. From cars to smartphones to gaming consoles and more, microchips are the powerhouse of modern-day technology. Because of ever-increasing demand, microchip production is a rapidly growing industry. In 2022, the global microchip (chip) market is projected to…
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The Dubious Nature of “Race Blind” Predictive Algorithms in the Courtroom
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The United States currently ranks first in the world for the rate of incarcerated individuals with an estimated 2.1 million people currently in prisons and jails across the nation. For reference, the Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population as third in the world at just under 333 million people. Home…