#AcademicRunPlaylist - 6/5/24

I had to take the OTHER car to the garage today, but at least I was able to get in a good run while they were fixing the AC and listen to some talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an important talk by Stephanie Barrientos on gender and work in global value chains at the LSE Department of International Development . Barrientos shows that while global value chains can generate positive effects for women, without broader systemic changes around gender norms and work more broadly these effects are likely to be limited https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNc_JAFe_Os

Next was an engaging panel on the relationship between synthetic data, anonymization, privacy, and utility at the CPDP Conferences with Clara Clark Nevola, Alexandra Ebert, Gabriel Menard, and Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye. Yves-Alexandre gives the best definition of synthetic data I've heard - it's a model that tries to be representative of the population of the dataset you're interested in. I would heavily push back on the assertion made by others on the panel that these models are useful for DEI - on the contrary, approaches like differential privacy have been shown to essentially erase minorities from datasets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yECtxuox6sI&t=1s

Next was a fantastic symposium on alternatives to neoliberalism at the LSE with Paul Collier, Debra Satz, and Larry Kramer. Collier had the quote of the event: "You've got a moral duty [to counter political and economic lies]. You can duck it, but if you duck it you can't feel sorry about your future, which will be $#!+." Highly recommmend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef2TwxDgnhA

Next was an informative panel on approaches to DSA data access for researchers at CPDP with Anna-Katharina (Kathy) Meßmer, Paddy Leerssen, Kirsty Park, Claudia Canelles Quaroni, and Veronique Ciminà https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBw3PLi6DOQ

Next was an excellent talk by Tina Eliassi-Rad on just machine learning at the Santa Fe Institute. Eliassi-Rad takes us on a tour of the long history of biased algorithms, ending up at the current day with a refreshingly critical perspective of "red teaming," among other issues. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuONmGtAoIY

Next was a great panel on supervising the mass adoption of algorithmic technologies at CPDP with Michael Veale, Karin Bruinenberg, Felix Reda, and Raziye Buse Çetin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrV_hKAhPvM

Next was an interesting symposium on changing labor markets and the future of social protection at the LSE School of Public Policy with Stephen Machin, Alison McGovern, Kirsten Sehnbruch, Anna Valero, and Luis Garicano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxnsMCwyjW8

Last was an intriguing panel at CPDP on transforming GDPR into a risk-based harm tool along with the AI Act with Felix Bieker, Nadya Purtova, and Christina Michelakaki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reavj4i1IaA