We're thrilled to announce the launch of the Assembly Student Fellowship Platform, which will feature updates on the program and the speaker series, provocations around disinformation, and much more. 

“In Assembly — through both the expert speakers and my talented peers — I have learned that disinformation is so much more than ‘fake news.’ There are many nuances, frameworks, and solutions which can be dissected and discussed from numerous angles.” — Arushi Saxena, Graduate School of Design ’21 and 2020–21 Student Fellow. Learn more about the 2020-21 Student Fellowship cohort and their work at the link below. 

Learn about the five alumni project teams returning to further develop interventions in the areas of disinformation, cybersecurity, and ethical AI. 

Learn about the collection of prototypes, sketches, and provocations developed by the Assembly Fellowship and Assembly Student Fellowship cohorts. 

Claire Wardle, co-founder and Director of First Draft and member of the Assembly Forum, joins Assembly: Disinformation Staff Fellow Oumou Ly to unpack journalists' role in debunking (and inadvertently spreading) disinformation. 

evelyn douek, BKC affiliate and SJD candidate at Harvard Law School, joins Assembly Staff Fellow Oumou Ly on this week's episode of The Breakdown to discuss manipulated media, platform takedown policies, and responsibility of platforms to society when doctored content stands to distort public perceptions of truth. 

Oumou Ly, Staff Fellow for Assembly, interviews the Stanford Internet Observatory's Renée DiResta to discuss what can be learned about disinformation from the current pandemic. Read the transcript and watch the video at the link below. 

The Berkman Klein Center writes about "New Ideas to Deal with Online Disinformation," a virtual event hosted by the Assembly Program that featured remarks by Dr. Joan Donovan, Research Director of the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School; Professor Jill Lepore, David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University; and Professor Marshall Van Alstyne, Questrom Professor in Management at Boston University.

"The fourth iteration of the Berkman Klein Center's Assembly Fellowship kicked off just as the number of COVID-19 cases across the United States was beginning to spike, prompting -- among countless other changes across the globe -- a significant shift in the scope and design of the program." Assembly Program Coordinator Zenzele Best writes about the 2020 Assembly Fellowship cohort, the fellows' time together in Cambridge, and the projects they are developing to tackle the spread and consumption of online disinformation.  

"I've really enjoyed the opportunity to learn from experts at BKC...but I've learned the most through the perspectives and questions of the other Assembly Student Fellows. The program recognized in its design and selection process that any meaningful solution must be interdisciplinary, and I've really enjoyed meeting and partnering with students from across Harvard to learn more about this topic," says Christine Keung HBS '20 and 2019-20 Assembly Student Fellow. This piece highlights the first year of the Assembly Student Fellowship. 

"It’s clear that the roadmap for AI governance won’t rely solely on business or academic research. It can—and should—be a collaboration between the two"

Read the Forbes profile of the Assembly Fellowship 2018 program. The piece highlights the Data Nutrition Project, which launched from the Assembly 2018 cohort.

In this Medium story, the Berkman Klein Center provides background on the Assembly program.

"At the Berkman Klein Center, we’re encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge transfer through Assembly, an annual program that gathers technologists, policymakers, developers, managers, and other professionals to confront emerging problems related to the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence. Assembly is a collaboration with

the MIT Media Lab and a part of our broader joint Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Initiative."

“We hope Assembly spurs meaningful learning and collaboration across sectors, and encourages other institutions to host similar programs.

The technology we create now — and the decisions we make about how to use it — will shape the future,” writes Assembly project manager Hilary Ross.