Audrey Tang and Divya Siddarth on Outfitting Democracy for the AI Era
Possible
AI and Democratic Engagement
This chapter explores how AI can enhance democratic engagement through quality moderation and constructive dialogue. It highlights innovative projects that utilize AI for civic participation, showcasing successful initiatives that bridge diverse community viewpoints.
How can we take digitally-empowered democracy straight out of science fiction into reality?
This week, Reid and Aria are joined by two digital democracy pioneers, Audrey Tang and Divya Siddarth. Audrey Tang is a cyber ambassador-at-large and former inaugural Minister of Digital Affairs for Taiwan. Their pioneering initiatives like the Sunflower Movement, g0v, and vTaiwan have fought misinformation and influenced policy decisions. Audrey is also a senior research fellow for the Collective Intelligence Project, co-founded and directed by Divya Siddarth. Divya leads projects worldwide that give voice to the public in building better AI.
Audrey and Divya have spent years investigating how people converge on uncommon ground and how to beat polarization. They discuss the power of collective input and collaboration to create a cycle of collective intelligence. Plus, how AI tools—informed by public input—can enhance governance, digital life, and bring out the best in all of us.
For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/
Topics:
3:07 - Hellos and intros
3:38 - Audrey and Divya's partnership backstory
7:06 - Challenges and surprises with AI in governance
10:19 - What problems do CIP's projects aim to solve?
13:04 - Breakthroughs in collective intelligence
15:08 - Fighting polarization in the age of social media
16:50 - Capitalizing on innate collective intelligence
18:51 - The difference between collective intelligence and democracy
20:33 - Design principles for democracy-forward AI
23:30 - Involving the public in AI model building
26:18 - Midroll
28:32 - Bringing Taiwan's civic wins worldwide
30:41 - Radical transparency in digital tools
35:18 - Why aren't Taiwan's initiatives landing in the U.S.
38:09 - Creating digital twins
39:52 - Reid and Aria's outlook on AI and democracy relations
42:04 - Who would Reid delegate AI centralization to?
45:05 - Rapid-fire
Select mentions:
Plurality by E. Glen Weyl, Audrey Tang, and Community
Global Dialogues — The Collective Intelligence Project
Alignment Assemblies — The Collective Intelligence Project
“Anthem” by Leonard Cohen
A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin
Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer
Taiwan’s Digital Minister Knows How to Crush Covid-19: Trust | WIRED
How the Sunflower movement birthed a generation determined to protect Taiwan
Possible is an award-winning podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Tune in for grounded and speculative takes on how technology—and, in particular, AI—is inspiring change and transforming the future. Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with an ambitious builder or deep thinker on a topic, from art to geopolitics and from healthcare to education. These conversations also showcase another kind of guest: AI. Each episode seeks to enhance and advance our discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.
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