The Center for Civil Rights and Technology

Innovations in technology should make our lives better, not worse. And our civil rights protections should not fall away when we interact with an automated system. While they undeniably have incredible potential, we have seen AI and other advancing technologies be an accelerant for disinformation, online toxicity, and civil rights violations.

That’s why we’re proud to introduce the Center for Civil Rights and Technology, an unprecedented initiative to create a fair, just, opportunity-rich, and rights-advancing future for all in the face of artificial intelligence. The Center will serve as a convener, collaborator, and communicator on policy issues, ideas, and potential innovations that can advance, as well as protect, equity in society.

By addressing biases, safeguarding privacy, and promoting ethical innovation, the Center will work toward solutions and policies to create a future where technology empowers, not discriminates. To start, the Center will include: 

• Advocacy: The Center is going to work relentlessly to ensure that when legislation, regulations, and other policies on AI and other emerging technologies are formulated, they center civil rights as a core issue. 
• Public Education: The Center will publish papers and policy positions, education tools, and materials and support active civic conversations about AI and emerging technologies in the context of civil rights advancement in all its forms, including democracy, education, economic opportunity and mobility, justice, and more. 
• Advisory Board: The Center will form an advisory group of civil rights organizations and subject matter experts to advise and guide the Center.
• Convenings: The Center will host convenings focused on civil rights and emerging technologies. 

Dr. Alondra Nelson — who served as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy — will serve as Senior Advisor on Civil Rights and Technology to our president and CEO and will be supported by a diverse team of Leadership Conference researchers and policy experts. 

Through this Center, we aim to harness the potential of AI for positive change while safeguarding against bias, disinformation, and discrimination.