Interview with Kevin De Liban – Justice and The Algorithm

Interview with Kevin De Liban

In this episode of Strange Intelligences, we speak with Kevin De Liban, a lifelong anti‑poverty advocate and founder of TechTonic Justice, about the hidden dangers of algorithmic decision making and AI in government and public‑sector decision‑making.

Kevin shares his journey from working as a legal aid attorney to leading a national organisation dedicated to protecting low‑income communities from the harms of algorithmic systems. He reveals how systems, often invisible to the public, can entrench inequality and strip away human dignity.

With a multi‑dimensional approach that blends litigation, public education, community organising, and media strategy, Kevin is pushing for transparency, accountability, and justice in the age of AI.

Throughout the conversation, we explore how building trust and activating grassroots power are essential to countering the divisive effects of technology.

Kevin’s work is a call to action: to understand, question, and change the systems shaping our future.

Interview by Dr Maggie Buxton, Director of AwhiWorld, with video production and editing by Kim Newall.

This discussion took place in the context of the Strange Intelligences Lab.

About Kevin De Liban

 

Kevin De Liban is the Founder and President of TechTonic Justice, a newly launched organization to fight alongside low-income people left behind by artificial intelligence (AI). Through multidimensional advocacy, TechTonic Justice supports marginalized communities and their advocates to secure the work, housing, schooling, public benefits, and family stability needed for a thriving life.

 Kevin previously worked for more than 12 years at Legal Aid of Arkansas—most recently as its Director of Advocacy–where he represented over 1,800 low-income people in matters involving health care, workers’ rights, public benefits, special education, and domestic violence. There, Kevin led campaigns at the cutting edge of anti-poverty advocacy: ending the state’s use of algorithms that cut the in-home care of elderly and disabled people, stopping Medicaid work reporting requirements that had stripped health insurance from 18,000 people in five months, and overcoming qualified immunity to hold state officials personally liable for violating constitutional rights.

In 2022, he co-founded the Benefits Tech Advocacy Hub with colleagues from Upturn and the National Health Law Program. This collaboration between public interest lawyers and technologists fights the harmful use of tech in public benefits.

Kevin regularly presents about imposing accountability on AI and consults with advocates, policymakers, and journalists in the U.S. and abroad. His work has appeared on or in the PBS Newshour, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, the Economist, the Verge, Bloomberg Businessweek, and many other outlets.

TechTonic Justice is a multidimensional effort to strengthen local justice movements and build long-term power among the people and communities that AI is leaving behind. By integrating litigation, organizing, community education, and narrative advocacy against harmful AI uses, TechTonic Justice supports low-income communities and their allies to secure the work, housing, schooling, benefits, and stability needed for a thriving life.

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