UPCOMING EVENTS
Democratic Backsliding and the Role of Technology
Transatlantic AI & Law Institute
May 2, 2025 | 2:45-4:15 p.m. ET
Fordham Law School
Global IP Alliance Conference
May 22, 2025 | 9 am -5 pm PT
University of San Diego
THE EQUALITY MACHINE
Much has been written about the challenges tech presents to equality and democracy. But we can either criticize big data and automation or steer it to do better. Lobel makes a compelling argument that while we cannot stop technological development, we can direct its course according to our most fundamental values.
With provocative insights in every chapter, Lobel masterfully shows that digital technology frequently has a comparative advantage over humans in detecting discrimination, correcting historical exclusions, subverting long-standing stereotypes, and addressing the world’s thorniest problems: climate, poverty, injustice, literacy, accessibility, speech, health, and safety.
Lobel's vivid examples—from labor markets to dating markets—provide powerful evidence for how we can harness technology for good. The book’s incisive analysis and elegant storytelling will change the debate about technology and restore human agency over our values.
REVIEWS
"[Lobel] agrees with those who fear artificial intelligence can be biased. But, in a brilliant act of intellectual jiu-jitsu, she argues that the answer is not to slow the technology, but to speed it up to solve those defects and achieve social progress." – The Economist (Best Books of 2022) "What’s right with technology and artificial intelligence? Outside Silicon Valley, few people ask the question that way. Lobel, Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, does, beginning by recounting her daughter Elinor’s type 1 diabetes — and the smartphone apps that help safely track her blood-sugar level and insulin pump. She then crafts a sweeping call for designing technology and AI with quality and social benefit in mind." – Harvard Magazine "Legal scholar Orly Lobel's The Equality Machine is a masterful analysis of the many 'inequitable dimensions of digital existence.' The book consists of 10 substantive chapters wherein Lobel expertly describes both the opportunities and the discrimination engendered by new artificial technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI)... 'Progress supersedes perfection,' insists Lobel. Rather than perpetuating the idea that technology must meet unattainable measures of fairness before we can move forward, she directs us to leverage the imperfect technologies we already have to make the world a better place." – Science "An enthusiastic yet measured argument for technology’s potential to promote equality across many facets of culture and industry" and a "A compelling, hopeful, potentially divisive look at the future of technology and its ability to positively shape human life." – Kirkus Reviews "Lobel sets out to counter the conventional wisdom that technologies like AI offer more threats than benefits. The book traces a range of examples where the principled and ethical use of big data analysis and AI are being utilized for progressive aims... Some of the most powerful examples of the potential for digital technologies to improve well-being described in The Equality Machine come from the domain of health and health care. Lobel describes the efforts of pioneering physicians and researchers to pair clinicians with algorithms for earlier diagnosis and individualized treatments." – Inside Higher Ed
BOOK TOUR
IN THE NEWS
Forbes – Digital Technology Provides More Tools To Shatter Racial And Sexist Barriers To Management
The Economist – Best Books of 2022
WIRED – The Overlooked Upsides of Algorithms in the Workplace
TIME – The Problem With Too Much Data Privacy
The San Diego Union-Tribune – Our top books picks this season
The Economist – Two new books explore the upside of big data and AI
Medium – 25+ Books for Transforming Work & Our World
The Boston Globe – Is digital privacy overrated?
TechRadar – Is an AI Bill of Rights enough?
S&P Global Market Intelligence – Biden administration AI policy efforts to be complex balancing act in 2023
The Legally Speaking Podcast – Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter, More Inclusive Future
The Modern Customer Podcast – 3 CX Opportunities In The Future Of AI And Automation
RESEARCH AND OTHER LINKS
RADIO & TV
"California laws protect [a worker’s] right to moonlight or to work a second job, or a gig. That's as long as there is no legitimate business interest by their company to try and limit that."
"If you're an architect, an attorney, or a graphic designer, online marketplaces allow you to get gigs rather than a full-time job. These aren't just lower-skilled jobs, they're just not full-time employment."
While noncompetes are most common in high-skilled fields like engineering, they’ve also become increasingly prevalent in lower-wage work like “camp counselors, yoga instructors, warehouse employees.”
"We have seen this in the past where Cal/OSHA has been more stringent, where Cal/OSHA has had higher thresholds of what it deems safe and healthy environments and in fact, we do have empirical work and empirical evidence that it has done a better job in protecting employees."
CONTACT
For media, research, and consulting, contact me: lobel@sandiego.edu
For speaking engagements, please contact: lisa@chartwellspeakers.com
For review copies of The Equality Machine, photographs, press materials or to schedule an event, please contact Margaret Rogalski, margaret@fortierpr.com
For review copies of You Don't Own Me, please contact at Norton, Erin Lovett, elovett@wwnorton.com
For rights inquiries about my book, please contact my agent at Levine Greenberg Rostan, Lindsay Edgecombe LEdgecombe@LGRLiterary.com
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