Why a diplomat became Pitt Cyber’s new policy director

In the world of policymaking, Jessica Kuntz observes there’s often a divide between folks who enjoy writing the policy, and those who think about how the policy will be executed. Kuntz considers herself to be the latter kind of policymaker.

She expects that insight will serve well in her new position as the policy director for the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, aka Pitt Cyber. The research center dedicated to tackling global cybersecurity challenges houses initiatives including the Pitt Disinformation Lab and the Pittsburgh Task Force on Public Algorithms.

“I have always defaulted to that execution mindset. It’s not to say one is better than the other [because] you definitely need both,” Kuntz told Technical.ly, “because if you just have a policy without effective execution, then you have very frustrating user experiences. But I tend to ground myself in the specifics and the details of, OK, I know where we want to be — how do we get there?”

In this role, the Pittsburgh native will help Pitt Cyber act as a bridge between academia and local policymakers. Kuntz spent the previous six years working for the US Department of State as a foreign service officer, and said she feels her in-depth understanding of how the government works will be useful in her new position amid ongoing legal and ethical debates about new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Plus, as a diplomat, much of her previous job focused on building relationships and working well with others.

“That, in my mind is what diplomacy is: In a nutshell, you are sort of coming in [and] trying to get a good sense of what the scene is and facilitate interactions that would be productive,” Kuntz said. “Partnership building is incredibly relevant in this space.”

That experience convinced the likes of Pitt Cyber founder David Hickton that Kuntz was the right person to fill the policy director position after Chris Deluzio left it to serve his first term in Congress. And Hickton would know: His work within academia, as the local US attorney under President Barack Obama, and as the head of this research hub have anchored the city as more than just a mecca for technical cybersecurity expertise, but for law and policy, too.

“I’m pleased to have Jess joining us here at Pitt Cyber,” Hickton said in an announcement. “Her diplomatic and policy experience is particularly relevant as Pitt Cyber expands its global work and continues its work at the intersection of technology and democracy.”

Since new technologies and their capabilities are constantly evolving, Kuntz anticipates that her research and writing capabilities will come in handy, too. Over the years, Pitt Cyber has invested a great deal of time into “pre-bunking” disinformation and working with journalists and officials months in advance to ensure that, for instance, conspiracy theories related to the 2022 midterm elections never gained the kind of traction seen in 2020. Kuntz said she’s excited about tracking the history and evolution of social media and where policies come into play with regard to how social media can impact elections.

Kuntz was working within the federal government during the presidential elections of 2016 and 2020, so she’s thought a lot about what the shift in social media will mean in the elections slated for 2024. Currently, she anticipates that it could be fraught with both AI and synthetic media concerns. (For example: deepfakes that could be used to deceive voters about comments candidates have made during campaign seasons.)

“There are lots of people trying to figure out what on earth they should do, but a real lack of specifics as to what AI regulation is going to look like,” Kuntz said. “But there’s a plethora of studies and thinking, so we’re also trying to synthesize those to get a sense of where the commonalities are, where the good ideas are.”

Now that she’s left government for an academic setting, Kuntz said she appreciates that in tech, there isn’t an expectation that everyone should share the same opinion. With that in mind, she’s enjoying learning about the concerns people have about AI with regard to privacy and disinformation as well as the potential some technologists see in the technology.

Ultimately, Kuntz plans to use her past experiences in diplomacy and the knowledge she acquires from new connections to help Pitt Cyber help the region navigate the ever-evolving technological landscape.

“You’re going to have differences, you’re not always going to agree on what the policy ought to be. But my personal approach has always been to ensure that the relationship I have with my counterparts is a good one,” Kuntz said. “Even if you’re going to differ, that’s kind of my general approach, regardless of what the problem is that I’m dealing with. So I think that’s certainly something that will apply in my new world.”

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.