Co-Opting AI: Insurance
NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, Sloane Lab, and the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab at the University of Virginia invite you to a new discussion in the series “Co-Opting AI.” This will be a completely virtual event.
This event will explore the entanglement of AI, the individualization of risk, and the insurance industry.
Laurence Barry (CREST-ENSAE/PARI) holds a Ph.D. in political science and is a certified actuary who combines research with professional actuarial work. She currently co-leads a research program in France examining the mutual impact of climate change and insurance mechanisms. Her interests include neoliberalism, Foucaultian studies, the intertwining of specific rationalities with modern power, and the digital turn. More recently, she has focused on the government of disasters. Her articles have been published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Theory, Culture and Society, the Journal of Cultural Economy and the British Journal of Sociology. Her book, Foucault and Postmodern Conceptions of Reason, was published in 2020.
Jathan Sadowski is a Senior Lecturer and ARC Future Fellow in the Department of Human Centred-Computing at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He studies the political economy of information technology and risk governance with a focus on the insurance industry. Jathan has authored two books on technology and capitalism: The Mechanic and the Luddite (UC Press, 2025) and Too Smart (MIT Press, 2020). He is also co-host of a weekly podcast on technology and political economy: This Machine Kills.
Mona Sloane is an Assistant Professor of Data Science and Media Studies at the University of Virginia (UVA). As a sociologist, she studies the intersection of technology and society, specifically in the context of AI design, use, and policy. She also convenes the Co-Opting AI series and serves as the editor of the Co-Opting AI book series at the University of California Press as well as the Technology Editor for Public Books. At UVA, Mona runs Sloane Lab which conducts empirical research on the implications of technology for the organization of social life. Its focus lies on AI as a social phenomenon that intersects with wider cultural, economic, material, and political conditions. The lab spearheads social science leadership in applied work on responsible AI, public scholarship, and technology policy. More here: monasloane.org.
The Co-Opting AI event series is convened by Mona Sloane. It is hosted by NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, UVA’s Digital Technology for Democracy Lab, and Sloane Lab.