Data & Society Reorienting AI for the Public Interest | 'Understanding AI' — NYPL x D&S Event Series [3]
The concentration of power and lack of regulation in the technology industry directly shapes how AI is designed and deployed, and whose interests it serves. That means decisions about these tools often reflect corporate priorities over public benefits. While AI is often held up as a tool to increase “efficiency,” it is essential to ask: efficiency for whom, and at what cost? What would it mean to create and oversee AI in the public’s best interest? How could these technologies be made more accountable to the people and communities they affect? And what is needed to create a future where AI works for everyone?
About 'Understanding AI'
In the fall of 2025, The New York Public Library and Data & Society collaborated to present “Understanding AI,” a four-part live event series exploring the social implications of artificial intelligence and its impacts on democracy, the environment, and human labor. Featuring key figures in the AI ethics field, these events took place at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL)in New York City as part of the library’s7 Stories Up program, and are now available for all to watch.