ForeCast Checks, Balances, and Power Concentration (with Rose Hadshar and Nora Ammann)
Dec 12, 2025
Nora Ammann, a researcher at ARIA with a focus on AI safety and governance, joins Rose Hadshar to dissect the complexities of power concentration and checks and balances. They explore the nuances of when centralization can be beneficial and how AI threatens existing frameworks of power. The duo delves into cultural influences, economic power, and the erosion of shared belief systems. They also discuss the need for transparency, whistleblower protections, and strategies for designing a resilient political economy post-AGI.
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Speakers' Background And Framing
- Nora Ammann describes working at ARIA and eight years of AI safety and governance experience.
- Rose Hadshar summarizes her 80,000 Hours piece on extreme power concentration as background for their discussion.
Checks And Balances Over Pure Centralization
- Power centralization isn't the core problem; the crucial issue is whether centralized power has accountability and responsiveness.
- Nora Ammann reframes the risk as weakening checks-and-balances rather than mere concentration of power.
AI Can Circumvent Human-Bound Institutions
- Advanced AI can 'jump over' existing institutions because those institutions evolved to constrain human actors at human speeds.
- Rose Hadshar warns AI may undermine legal, epistemic, and institutional limits by operating outside their assumptions.