A social movement to block government AI abuses

Cohn expects Ozer is “really going to help EFF level up” by advancing EFF’s strategy and growing the community supporting EFF’s work.

Concerns about AI abuses could galvanize that support, Ozer told Ars. It’s clear that longtime talking points that privacy advocates have pushed about facial recognition and license plate readers have become intensified during the AI age, she said, with many people recognizing what’s at stake due to ICE activity prompting mass protests.

“We’re in a moment of another exponential increase in technology with the growth of AI,” Ozer said. “And we need everyone in this fight to build the digital future that we deserve.”

To Cohn, giving the public a say in how government uses AI is “existential.”

Her memoir recounts how impactful it was for judges to see cypherpunks, who were definitely not wearing suits, swarming courts to fight against government spying. And if Ozer is able to drum up support from the TikTok crowd, it could have a similar impact, signaling to courts that privacy fights, and other AI battles, affect real people’s daily lives.

Cohn suggested that if the midterms shake up government, there could be an opportunity for EFF and other advocates to get Congress to weigh bipartisan tech policy that prioritizes public interests over Big Tech’s.

Since EFF’s founding, the ever-elusive goal has been to pass a comprehensive federal data privacy law. For Ozer to succeed, Cohn expects that it will take a lot of political will. But Ozer has a plan, which is what Cohn said makes her a “perfect fit” for the executive director role.

Last year, Ozer wrote a technical paper outlining possible paths to put the American people in charge of US privacy law in the AI age. In it, she discussed key challenges to social movements fighting for protections against AI abuses. Perhaps most critically, she argued that just as Cohn found when fighting to protect encryption in the 1990s, the movement will need to craft a narrative around AI that gets courts and lawmakers to clearly see how civil rights could be harmed.

“My work is really informed by social justice in the digital age and ensuring that the AI age really needs greater access and equity and justice,” Ozer said. “And so that’s what animates me—leading with vision and clarity and eyes open to the challenges—but always really focused on what can be achieved when we work together with purpose.”