AI has dominated recent headlines. Books and magazine articles abound describing the transformational impact “artificial intelligence” will have on work and society. Few of these publications, however, have delved deeply into how algorithms and AI are affecting citizens in democratic societies. This lecture will center upon a core dilemma: how can society benefit from AI without destroying democracy? The logic of AI models and the needs of both state and market provide strong incentives to see individual citizens as “algorithmic problems” that need to be solved to increase profits or to manage citizens. In this lecture, I'll argue that democratic health requires that large numbers of its citizens defy algorithmic classification, hence remain as “outliers" and 'algorithmic problems."

Dr. Jose Marichal is a professor of political science at California Lutheran University, specializing in studying the role that social media plays in restructuring political behavior and institutions. Dr. Marichal’s book Facebook Democracy (Routledge Press) looks at the role of the popular social network played on the formation of political identity across different countries. His most recent work (with Cal Lutheran colleagues Drs. Richard Neve and Brian Collins) looks at the ways in which social media platforms encourage antagonistic political discourse and how they could be regulated. Additionally, Dr. Marichal and a team of collaborators are using computational social science methods on a number of projects including: using machine learning to predict support or opposition to fracking on Twitter, a study of how individuals censor themselves when discussing politics on Facebook, and a project on uncovering the topic structure of Reddit comments on WallStreetBets. In 2018, Dr. Marichal organized a mini-conference on Algorithmic Politics for the Western Political Science Association. Dr. Marichal is currently working on a book that looks at the effect of the “Algorithmic Age” on political citizenship.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50+ years of age, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses (without the pressure of grades) for the sake of learning and social engagement.

This lecture can be attended online via Zoom.