Generic computer, keyboard, mouse photo. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — For the last 23 years, a Green Bay native has had a front row seat in Washington D.C. at the intersection of technology and politics.
Katie Harbath has been writing about her experiences and what we might want to be thinking about as we enter the era of artificial intelligence.
From starting out working for the Republican National Committee, to 10 years at Facebook, and now having her own consulting agency, Harbath has some stories to tell.
“I’m sitting there across from a sitting President explaining how Facebook works and how he can use it to talk to his constituents,” said Harbath of an experience she had with former Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos.
That experience is one of the “holy smokes” moments Harbath wrote about in her new book, ‘Disrupting Politics’.
The book takes readers through the evolution of social media from someone who was in the room when major decisions were being made.
“Learning when there’s no playbook, how do you try to figure out what to do, what’s next, how do you weigh what I call impossible tradeoffs that you’re trying to decide around speech and safety and issues like that,” said Harbath.
The Bay Port High School graduate believes those lessons from the rise of social media can aide society when it comes to AI.
“We weren’t thinking enough, I think, of the role of algorithms and recommendation systems,” said Harbath. “I think that now today as we go into the AI world, there is a lot to talk of safety but we really need to get down to the nitty gritty of what are our values, what will those guardrails be, and how do we make sure we bring all of the world in: civil society, academia, etc., and government to be part of these solutions versus just having companies make these decisions on their own.”
Acknowledging the AI genie isn’t going back in the bottle, Harbath hopes readers of her book can gain an understanding of her approach, which she calls panic responsibly.
“I would rather us be talking about this stuff and where things might go wrong and what those guardrails should be versus us not doing that like we did in the social media era,” said Harbath.
‘Disrupting Politics’ is available for preorder with a release date of October 6th.
Harbath’s role at Facebook included coordinating its work on global elections. She built teams that worked with politicians and governments on using the platform.
Her consulting company, Anchor Change, works with tech companies and think tanks on technology and democracy.
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