Scientists use big data to sway elections and predict riots — welcome to the 1960s

Scientists use big data to sway elections and predict riots — welcome to the 1960s

A 1960s tech effort to steer democracy

A cold-war-era corporation targeted voters and presaged many of today’s big-data controversies, writes historian and author Jill Lepore. Her new book explores how the Simulmatics Corporation’s efforts in the tumultuous 1960s United States foreshadowed those of today’s technology companies to sway elections and predict the electorate’s response to inequality and racism.

Nature | 11 min read