Science

Jeffrey Epstein's influence in the science world is a symptom of larger problems | Kate Darling


Many of us are reeling from the recent news that MIT’s Media Lab, where I work as a researcher, took funding from Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier who faced federal sex-trafficking charges. For me, the Epstein connections don’t stop there: Epstein had close ties to John Brockman, the founder of the heavy-hitting science literary agency that recently sold my first book. The Epstein web can appear inescapable, and for those entangled in it, there’s a temptation to break out and cut all ties with his enablers. While I understand and respect that decision, I’ve made a different one. I will not be working with the Brockman company on any further books. But I’ve decided to support the Media Lab.

In early 2019, I was sipping fancy wine at an invitation-only Brockman event. At one point, I brought up the attendees’ lack of diversity with my agent, Max Brockman, who is John Brockman’s son. Max responded that the room we were in, filled with mostly older white male academics, was simply an accurate reflection of the field of science. I said: “Even if that were true, wouldn’t you want to change it?”

I felt brave for speaking up. Brockman is known as the book agency for science writers. It has the power and the connections to launch illustrious careers. As a new Brockman author, I was now rubbing elbows with my science heroes. I was also using my new status to be a voice for change – making a difference from within. Or was I?

This was not the first time I had pressed the Brockmans on the community they were curating. It was also not the first time they would dismiss my suggestions. In the meantime, my name and work were associated with their literary agency and their closely-related Edge Foundation. Whether as a token female, or a legitimate scientist, I was aiding them in upholding their web of influence.

There’s a fine line between changing from within and being complicit. It turns out that I was nowhere near changing from within.

More recently, reports began trickling out that placed John Brockman among the key figures in Jeffrey Epstein’s life. As this news percolated through my networks, I fully expected some of the leading Brockman authors to make a statement or otherwise distance themselves from the agency. Instead, I encountered a silence that perplexed and infuriated me. Was I – a relatively junior female researcher – the only person who wanted to fire my agent? I got in touch with some other Brockman authors, including Evgeny Morozov. I cried when he later sent me his exposé, because in the deafening silence from the other authors I had reached out to, I was so grateful to know that I wasn’t alone.

True allies are hard to come by. Many of my male friends have patted themselves on the back for the one time they recommended a white woman for a board seat. But I can count on one hand the real male allies in my world: people I have repeatedly seen stop and listen to the voices of the marginalized, without getting defensive. People I have witnessed throwing their weight around behind the scenes, at personal expense to themselves, for no reason other than to do the right thing. One of those people is Joi Ito, the director of the MIT Media Lab.

When I learned that Joi knew Jeffrey Epstein and had taken his money, I felt deeply betrayed. Science fundraising is complicated and the incentives to make questionable decisions in that context warrant a much larger discussion. What gutted me was Joi’s blindness as a participant in a network of wealth and power that clearly harmed women, not only through hidden sex trafficking, but also through very visible exclusion. While the role he played was far from John Brockman’s, it was hard not to feel that my whole professional environment had been complicit.

Many are struggling to figure out what to do about the news of Epstein’s ties to MIT, and whether to condemn or defend Joi. But in a system that is pervasively stacked against women, a system that goes far beyond individuals and even institutions, it’s pretty clear to me that we should direct our harshest judgment towards those people and institutions who remain silent about their participation, and who do not care to talk about change.

Because the complicity goes all the way up, these problems require people with great power to fix them. Ultimately, I no longer believe that I can enact true change without the help of powerful allies. In my experience, one of the few people who is even capable of enacting change at MIT is Joi Ito. I hate what he did and I do not defend his actions. But I also know that he may actually act to fix his mistakes. Over the past eight years, I’ve observed him listen, introspect, and take action, even where it would have been easier for him to stay the course.

Men like Joi need to step up, and step up hard. This can’t end with a mea culpa statement, and they know it. I want to be here for Joi and for all those who are willing to go beyond that. I want to help them create real change and shift the landscape of power – so that when the next opportunity for moral and ethical misstep presents itself, it’s greeted by a diversely informed leadership. And just as I’m calling on men to do, I want to be here as an ally. I want to stay and use whatever amount of power and privilege I have to fight for those who have less, who are vulnerable and need protection, who are being suppressed and excluded, and who need to be given a voice.

This is why I am leaving Brockman as soon as I’ve fulfilled my contractual obligations, but staying at the Media Lab. The Brockmans of the world are uninterested in change; Joi Ito has the humility to understand that change is imperative. Staying is a hard decision. I’m worried that change won’t come easily. And I’m worried that I am again missing the line between working from within and being complicit.

This is not my mess to fix. But people who were in a position to make these mistakes, and are also willing to use their same position to fix them, are few and far between. If we all step up to the best of our ability, whether that’s by leaving or staying, whether that’s by speaking up or encouraging others to speak, whether that’s by burning or building institutions, it’s my hope that we can start holding those in power accountable and creating structural change.

  • Dr Kate Darling is a leading expert in robot ethics. She’s a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction



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