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Kyra J

- Research Program Mentor

LLM candidate at SOAS, University of London

Expertise

International Law, History (American, East/South/Southeast Asian), Human Rights, International Relations/Foreign Policy

Bio

Hi! My name is Kyra, and I'm an LLM candidate in International Law at SOAS, University of London, where I just began studying as a Marshall Scholar. I graduated last year with a BA in History and minor in Human Rights from Stanford. My main areas of interest are in Southeast Asian history, politics, and law - I wrote my undergraduate honors thesis on Indonesia's Human Rights Court, and have gotten to publish reports and shorter analyses on issues such as the impact of Big Tech companies on democratic regression in the region, to analyzing the decline in the protection of free speech/free press during COVID. Since starting my LLM, I've begun focusing on the impact of colonization on the development of draconian laws/punishment (such as the death penalty) in the Global South. To counterbalance what I read about on my screen all day, I like running (for my mental health), listening to music (Beyonce, mainly), and thrift shopping. The best piece of advice that I ever received was to be humble and realize that everyone has something they can teach you - which definitely applies in my mentorship experiences. I'm looking forward to meeting and learning from you through this experience!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Governmental Approaches to Governing AI

AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, have been rapidly developed and disseminated into society at a rate far faster than governments have been able to regulate these paradigm-shifting innovations. Some governments, such as in the UK, have decided to take a laissez faire approach, choosing to not regulate these technologies at all out of fear of limiting growth. Other countries, such as Italy, have banned ChatGPT all together, out of concerns that it violated the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This project will explore the policy implications of regulating AI technologies, weighing the various pros and cons that countries might face in doing so. Through conducting a literature review of governments' current positions on AI and previous positions on other emerging technologies, you will gain an insight into why certain governments make the choices they do and identify certain patterns for the relationship between these government and technological developments. After familiarizing yourself with various global approaches, you will pick a country to study more in-depth, in order to understand its unique country-specific challenges and priorities, as well as any regional legal constraints (such as laws governing privacy and civil liberties in Europe). Ultimately, your research will culminate into a policy proposal that synthesizes the main findings of your research and offers a recommendation for how your chosen country's government should approach its regulation to AI.

Languages I know

Indonesian, fluent

Teaching experience

- TA'd for two courses on human rights and law at Stanford, which involved co-designing the syllabi with professor, mentoring students on final papers, and co-teaching classes (8 months) - Worked as an advisor for Stanford's Overseas Scholarship office, where I provided one-on-one guidance for Marshall scholarship applicants on their essays and the application process more wholistically (3 months) - Peer Advisor for Stanford in Washington Program and Stanford Center for Human Rights, during which I chatted with students about the program/center offerings and answered questions about relevant application processes (2 years) - Co- designed and co-taught a class on ethics for high school students (1 month)

Credentials

Work experience

Indonesian Institute for an Independent Judiciary (2018 - 2023)
Researcher
Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University (2018 - 2023)
Research Assistant
Center for Strategic and International Security (2020 - 2021)
Research Intern
Digital Civil Society Lab, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (2020 - 2021)
Research Assistant

Education

Stanford University
BA Bachelor of Arts
International and Asian History and Human Rights
SOAS, University of London
LLM Master of Laws candidate
International Law

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