On Thursday, Nov. 13, Vassar College students and professors gathered in Rockefeller Hall to listen to guest speaker Steve Feldstein’s lecture, “The Coercive Power of Tech: From AI Surveillance to Drones.” This talk was organized in tandem with Vassar Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Chibuzo Achinivu’s seminar course POLI 381: “Digital Authoritarianism,” which surveys the repressive and autocratic uses of technology around the globe. Feldstein drew on his expertise as a former employee of the State Department, lawyer and researcher to elaborate on topics discussed in Achinivu’s class. The lecture mainly focused on the tech race against China, collaboration between tech companies and the military industrial complex as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for authoritarian means.
Achinivu began the talk with a brief introduction to some of the topics discussed in his course: “Over the course of the past several weeks, my students and I have come to grips with the dynamic that digital information technologies, once heralded as liberation technologies, have been co-opted by actors from democracies and autocracies alike for repressive motives. We’ve also grappled with the idea, or the question, [of] if technology is neutral—that is, does it influence politics or do political actors influence it?”
Before the lecture, Feldstein visited Achinivu’s class to answer questions about his work and his various career paths. His book “The Rise of Digital Repression” is the first text read in the course, followed by several of Feldstein’s more recent articles.
In an interview with The Miscellany News prior to the event, Achinivu expressed his hopes that students would take advantage of Feldstein’s broad expertise: “He’s going to have a great wealth of knowledge for them and expertise on going into these fields [political science and law].”
According to Achinivu, Feldstein is a very experienced lecturer, with a background in teaching as well as public speaking thanks to his legal experience. In addition, his time as an employee of the State Department lends him valuable hands-on experience on the topics that Vassar students are studying from a scholarly perspective.
As the lecture got underway, Feldstein laid out some of the fundamental messages that he hoped to explain through his talk. “The general overall argument I’m going to make is that advanced technologies serve as a key measure of power both internally and externally,” he began. “Digital tools offer leaders new ways to suppress challengers and hold onto power.”
To illustrate these points, Feldstein jumped into a series of examples illustrating the geopolitical implications of the drive to develop increasingly advanced technology, a phenomenon he referred to as the “Tech Race.” Comparing it to the Cold War era “Space Race” between the United States and the Soviet Union, Feldstein pointed out several ways that the diffusion of tools such as drones, spyware, phone apps and AI are empowering regimes both domestically and externally. However, he pointed out how the increased globalization and digital interconnectedness that has come about since the Cold War means that more international actors are gaining access to these strategies than ever before.
Feldstein proceeded to discuss the United States’ past strategies of combatting the spread of potentially dangerous technologies. He compared the protective technology policies of the Biden administration to the deregulation-focused ideology of the Trump era, a movement which he referred to as the rise of the “Tech Right.” According to Feldstein, his new approach to the Tech Race places diminished importance on keeping powerful technological advances out of the hands of enemies such as China and Russia in favor of freeing up the market, the assumption being that the United States will maintain its advantage naturally.
With the political groundwork laid, Feldstein moved into several specific examples of Big Tech having a direct impact on global conflicts. He explained how the use of drones in Russia and Ukraine has drawn scrutiny from those concerned about the cost of civilian life for the use of destructive technologies on the battlefield, and the recent drive to incorporate AI autonomy into their targeting programs further complicates the issue. He later cited similar events in Israel, including the recent mass surveillance of Palestinians using software developed by Microsoft. Feldstein especially emphasized the implications of civilian technology companies partnering with national militaries and the extent to which these companies can claim ignorance of how their products are used.
After laying out the capabilities of technology to heighten the costs of war, both by ways of money spent and civilian lives lost, Feldstein shifted into discussing some potential options for leaders interested in managing the consequences. He stressed the importance of establishing clear technology control strategies in pace with the speed of innovation. These rules, according to Feldstein, should be based on the input of experts in emerging military technologies, not just the interests of the state. Norms for the use of AI weapons must be established and respected, just like all other basic principles of war.
From here, Feldstein transitioned from conflict to repression, beginning with a survey of the most and least digitally repressed countries in the world. The highest offenders—North Korea, Turkmenistan, Russia, South Sudan and China—earned their positions on this list by using technology to spy on their citizens, identify and repress dissidents and distribute targeted propaganda. To illustrate these points, Feldstein spoke on the use of AI facial recognition technology to track down political rebels in Russia, a practice that, he explained, not only infringes on citizen privacy, but only yields partial accuracy in correct identification.
Finally, Feldstein summed up his points by emphasizing that the rapid development of technology should always be assessed in the context of how they are used. “Fighting back requires new creative strategies and innovative approaches,” he said, referring to efforts we can take against misuse of tech like AI and drones, “but we also have to remember that these authoritarian regimes are difficult to deal with because ultimately it’s a matter of political survival.”
Ian Watanabe ’27, [Disclaimer: Watanabe is Assistant Opinions Editor for The Miscellany News] a Political Science major at Vassar and a student in Achinivu’s class, offered his perspective on the lecture.“I’m really glad we had this talk,” he said, reflecting on Feldstein’s unique insight into the topic. “Having people who have had on-the-job experience is something that I’d like to see a lot more of, and I think people would be interested in that.”
He discussed how Feldstein’s lecture model touched on a lot of the same key points that the class does, but while the class focuses very heavily on China and the United States, the lecture expanded the worldview to include more locations, including democratic countries.
For students like Watanabe, who are interested in political science topics such as technology and rhetoric, the interest in lecture events like Feldstein’s stems from a desire to envision careers in their areas of study. Achinivu agreed that Feldstein’s experience in these topics would be of great help in answering many of the questions students consider in his class, including how technology can be misused by governments and what we can do to stop it. As he said in his introduction, “These questions and their answers have implications for freedom, human rights, national security, sovereignty and interstate warfare, and not many have had access to the relevant officials, nor have they given us insights as deep, as our speaker today, Mr. Steve Feldstein.”