E13
August 23, 2024
Exhibit X: The Community
Hosted by
Alix Dunn

What makes an expert witness? How does a socio-technical researcher become one? Now that we’re the end of this miniseries, we might finally be ready to answer these questions…In the fifth installment of Exhibit X, civic tech acrobat Elizabeth Eagen shares her pithy insights on how researchers of emerging technologies are starting to interface with litigators and regulators.The questions we explore this week:When do the expertise of social scien...

On Computer Says Maybe, host Alix Dunn interviews visionaries and cutting edge researchers to help you wade through the wacky and worrying world of new technology.
Contact us with your feedback and suggestions, or if you’re keen to explore your area in conversation. We have rotating co-hosts and expert guests that help us deep dive into a particular topic. Write to us anytime at team@saysmaybe.com.
Show Notes

What makes an expert witness? How does a socio-technical researcher become one? Now that we’re the end of this miniseries, we might finally be ready to answer these questions…

In the fifth installment of Exhibit X, civic tech acrobat Elizabeth Eagen shares her pithy insights on how researchers of emerging technologies are starting to interface with litigators and regulators.

The questions we explore this week:

  • When do the expertise of social scientists become ‘good’ enough to stand up in court — and who gets to decide that?
  • How can the traditionally glacial system of courts and legislators keep pace with the shifting whims of technology companies?
  • Litigators want social scientists to get on the stand and say ‘X caused Y’ without a shadow of a doubt — but what social scientist would do that?

Elizabeth Eagen is Deputy Director of the Citizens and Technology Lab at Cornell University, which works with communities to study the effects of technology on society and test ideas for changing digital spaces to better serve the public interest. She was a 2022-23 Practitioner Fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University, and serves as a board member at a number of nonprofit technology organizations.

Transcript