The Stack Overflow Podcast How AI is helping us build better communities
Dec 30, 2025
Alex "Sandy" Pentland, a renowned MIT and Stanford professor, dives into the interplay between AI and community building. He discusses his book, Shared Wisdom, exploring how technology can assist or hinder community growth. Sandy critiques social media's failure in fostering true connections, and introduces deliberation.io, an AI tool aiming to enhance community discussions. He also addresses the risks and opportunities of generative AI, advocating for human oversight to navigate its challenges while harnessing its potential for societal improvement.
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Shared Wisdom Enables Collective Action
- Shared wisdom is what a community collectively believes so it can act coherently, not necessarily objective truth.
- Alex Pentland argues internet+AI can recreate Enlightenment-style distributed inquiry to solve big problems.
Letters Fueled The Enlightenment
- Pentland traced the Enlightenment's power to opened postal networks and prolific letter exchanges among thinkers like Leibniz.
- He uses this historical example to argue distributed argumentation produced major cultural and scientific change.
Connect Communities, Not Everyone
- Connecting everyone to everyone often degrades useful community communication and amplifies influencers.
- Pentland says communication should prioritize groups with shared problems to enable cooperative solutions.