How we investigated sentencing bias in Norway’s criminal justice system Norway’s criminal justice system is regularly hailed as a model — but is it truly impartial?

The crimes you’re convicted of should determine your punishment, not who you are. But even in Norway – one of the “fairest” criminal justice systems – @lhreports.bsky.social & NRK reveal that there are disparities in sentence length by income and gender
www.lighthousereports.com/methodology/...

That’s amazing work – thank you so much, and congrats!

Ah well, it had a good innings: traintimes.org.uk/map/tube/

Thanks, it’s very interesting. Re intermediating decisions: what decisions are you thinking about? What means of intermediation (eg what features of platforms)? Really enjoyed the clear and original writing!

Predistribution over Redistribution — The Collective Intelligence Project If AI could bring enormous benefits to humanity, but also threatens to put us all out of work and concentrate economic production in the hands of a few, what should our policy approach be?

For more on this, see @saffron.bsky.social's excellent account here: www.cip.org/blog/predist...

That’s what LLM are made for. Notably ChatGPT’s banana bread is delicious (and we should accept this info as it is, without asking more 😂)

Love this website so much – thanks for sharing!

One year later: did AI disrupt democracy? Spoiler alert: no.

Here is the post: matteonebbiai.substack.com/p/one-year-l...

@matteonebbiai.bsky.social on AI and disinformation, after this year of elections. Building (also) on top of @sayash.bsky.social & @randomwalker.bsky.social to say that “regulators should NOT focus on AI disinformation”. Clear and interesting 💡

You should def subscribe to his Substack!

"For those who can afford AI agents, life will become far more convenient. The majority will remain stuck in endless queues, their time undervalued & wasted by outdated bureaucratic processes. Both groups will lose faith in the public sector" rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/ai-agen...

Pleased to share the latest version of my paper with Arthur Spirling and @lexipalmer.bsky.social on replication using LMs

We show:

1. current applications of LMs in political science research *don't* meet basic standards of reproducibility...

Hey @patcon.bsky.social, don’t you think that Polis in practice is not much beyond an opinion mapping tool? The “ongoing group introspection” might happen, but it has to do with the socio-political architecture in which Polis is inserted, not with the tech. But things may change with Polis 2!

AI amplifying biorisk has been a major focus in AI policy & governance work. Is the spotlight merited?

Our recent cross-institutional work asks: Does the available evidence match the current level of attention?

📜 arxiv.org/abs/2412.01946

This is a wonderful program from @isi.it! I was a Lagrange Fellow in 2023-24 and I learnt soooo much.

Highly recommended for anyone curious about data science for social impact, especially if thinking about a PhD. Apply!

And kudos to @ccattuto.bsky.social and the whole team for organizing it!

"Sort it out." (Central government does not keep a list of public services, let alone who's accountable for them.)

I wonder if mission-oriented innovation can be the way. Probably not the right one for many fields that are already highly institutionalized (eg education, health)

What do you see as an alternative? The implementation/landing of innovation often has to rely on existing structures and ways of working (in pillars, in teams)

Frankly | Enabling Constructive Dialogue Frankly is an online video-based discourse platform designed to facilitate constructive dialogue and collaborative decision-making. It is operated by Harvard’s Applied Social Media Lab.

Yup! This integration of conversation-centered communities is very good. Happy to see more of this practice with shared tooling — possibly with Frankly.org as a mezzo level between wikisurvey and in-person assemblies. @lessig.bsky.social

This is a super cool (and fun!) initiative – thanks!!

Been talking a lot recently with people in government about how to spread innovation. Just reminded myself of this Nesta report with lots of great practical tips. It's worth reading if you work in this space / share with followers who might.

media.nesta.org.uk/documents/20...

Thanks @jamestplunkett.bsky.social! A lot is going on in UK govt on innovation — very excited to see it happening!

Government to set out £100m plan to make state 'like a start-up' As well as urging a

I know people will be irked by the word ‘start-up’ here but I do think this is a meaningful step in the right direction. The basic principles they’re gesturing to must be right. 1/n

Went to the speech this morning. A few thoughts. TL;DR - I thought it was really good, but of course lots of tricky challenges to work through. 🧵

It’s 5yrs and waiting since the EU boasted that a €142mn “smart borders” system would see it biometrically track people in/out of the bloc. Atos, a French IT firm cosy with Brussels, was supposed to do the bulk of the job.

Documents obtained by @lhreports.bsky.social @bloomberg.com reveal a fiasco

That’s very interesting – and important. But we should recognize that public service operate under limited resources, and being able to evaluate the impact per cost matters. Providers are accountable for expenses, hence we should not everlook economic factors – but in a matrix w other dimensions.

How Madrid built its metro cheaply - Works in Progress Madrid tripled the length of its metro system in just 12 years — faster and cheaper than almost any other city in the world. What can its expansion teach other cities?

good piece on how Madrid built out a massive metro expansion for like 1/20th of what it costs in NYC worksinprogress.co/issue/how-ma...

Founders Associate: Right Hand to the CEO: Agora Citizen Network is hiring! Agora Citizen Network is hiring a Founders Associate: Right Hand to the CEO at its Paris offices.

I’m looking for a right-hand intern to work closely with me to prepare for the upcoming Beta launch of @agoracitizen.network. It’s a paid #internship (remote or in Paris). If you know someone who'd be interested, help me spread the word! 🙏 jobs.stationf.co/companies/zk...

Zero-sum thinking is a key mindset that shapes how we view the world. A little thread to highlight our work on its roots with @sahilchinoy.bsky.social,
@nathannunn.bsky.social, Sandra Sequeira.🧵1/23 scholar.harvard.edu/files/stantc...

That’s amazing! I see so many interesting points that will definitely allow Polis to maintain relevance in a changing tech landscape. Would love to contribute in any way, if I can!

Hi Colin! So great to hear that you’re building Polis 2. Soooo curious to hear about it. Any place where I can find more info?