Jie (Jason) Lian

Jie (Jason) Lian is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Nonviolent Action Lab and a visiting fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation of Harvard University.
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October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4

Authoritarian AI’s Last-Mile Problem

AI gives autocrats unprecedented powers of surveillance, but seeing is not enforcing. Authoritarians still rely on coercion, and a regime’s henchmen can shirk, defect, or disobey. The costs for autocrats will rise in unexpected ways.