When we gave algorithms power over our world, we hoped that the apparent neutrality of machine thinking would create a more egalitarian age. Yet we are more divided than ever, staring down threats to democracy itself. It is not enough that algorithms engage everyone’s data with the same measuring stick. The data themselves are all too often structured in ways that obscure and exacerbate stratifying distinctions. Hence, we must also work to ensure that those people subject to computational assessment enter data systems on equal terms.

In this event, Colin Koopman will argue that data technologies fail us so often because we built them around a deficient notion of equality and discuss novel methods for realizing democratic equality in a digital age.

Colin Koopman is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. His research and teaching focus on the politics of information and data, in particular issues of privacy and surveillance. He is interested in the ethical and political problems that arise out of information collection, data analytics and the vast distribution mechanisms they enable. His last book, Data Equals was published in September 2025 by the University of Chicago Press.

Isabelle Laurenzi holds a Ph.D. in political theory from Yale University. Her dissertation draws on theories of political consciousness and action, as well as feminist critiques of domination and power.