Join us Tuesday, October 15, at 5 pm, for a discussion on election security and AI with Darrell West and Gaston Wright. Darrell West is a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program and a co-editor-in-chief of “TechTank” at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. Gaston Wright is the Director of Civic Compass at Civic House in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This event is organized by the Political Science Department, in collaboration with the Tang Teaching Museum. It is free and open to the public.
About the Speakers
Darrel M. West is a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He holds the Douglas Dillon Chair in Governance Studies. Previously, he was the John Hazen White Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University. His current research focuses on artificial intelligence and technology policy.
West is the author of 26 books including Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy (Brookings, 2022); Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (Brookings, 2020; with John Allen); Divided Politics, Divided Nation: Hyperconflict in the Trump Era (Brookings, 2019); The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation (Brookings, 2018); Megachange: Economic Disruption, Political Upheaval, and Social Strife in the 21st Century (Brookings, 2016); Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust (Brookings, 2014); Digital Schools (Brookings, 2012); The Next Wave: Using Digital Technology to Further Social and Political Innovation (Brookings, 2011); Brain Gain: Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy (Brookings, 2010); Digital Medicine: Health Care in the Internet Era (Brookings, 2009); Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance (Princeton University Press, 2005); and Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2013); among others.
He is the winner of the American Political Science Association’s Don K. Price award for best book on technology (for Digital Government) and the American Political Science Association’s Doris Graber award for best book on political communications (for Cross Talk). His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and he has delivered lectures in numerous countries around the world.
Gaston Wright has extensive academic experience in politics, regulation and Technology. He holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Toronto and has graduate studies in Internet Regulation, Data, and Law at the London School of Economics. Gaston is a professor at Torcuato Di Tella University and Buenos Aires University, where he teaches Political Science and Technology. His academic work complements his professional expertise, contributing significantly to digital rights, data protection, the role of platforms during elections and the use of AI in politics.
In his professional career, Gaston founded Civic Compass, a think-tank dedicated to studying digital rights and their impact on civic space in Latin America. In 2012, he launched Change.org in the South Cone, transforming it into one of the region’s fastest-growing social change platforms with over 10 million users. He has held influential roles in the private sector, including leading the Public Policy team at Meta for the South Cone.
Previously, Gaston worked at Ashoka, where he led the global expansion of Changemaker.com. He also consulted on digital transformation for the Womanity Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank, focusing on social impact initiatives and digitalization.