Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies encourage cooperation and stability, while also adapting to changing circumstances. The real superpower of institutions is their ability to evolve and adapt within a hierarchy
How AI Destroys Institutions
Civic institutions—like the rule of law, higher education, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex s
Democratic Governance of AI Is the Real Solution
The potential for catastrophic effects from the AI boom demands robust deliberation and real democratic governance. Localized initiatives like data center moratoria won't get us there.
Considering How AI Destroys Democratic Institutions
Boston University School of Law professors Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica Silbey say today's AI systems are a "death sentence" for civic institutions.
Pax Machina — Institutions in a World with Powerful AI
Proposals and debate, for institutions in a world with powerful AI.
How Shifting Responsibility for AI Harms Undermines Democratic Accountability | TechPolicy.Press
The moralization of individual AI use deflects responsibility away from powerful actors like corporations and governments, Suvradip Maitra and others write.
AI, Ethics, and Society — Home
Building a Solidarity Ecosystem for AI (SSIR)
How cooperatives, public institutions, and social movements can come together to intentionally build a practical, community-owned alternative to extractive AI systems. <meta property=
Building Political Superintelligence
Amidst fears of dystopia, a blueprint for how we use AI to reinvent the way we govern ourselves
AI as Social Technology: Astor Lecture by Professor Henry Farrell
AI FOR EPISTEMICS & COORDINATION
Civilization and technology have radically improved the human condition. Nonetheless, the world sometimes goes in directions which essentially nobody would prefer — e.g., nuclear arms races, unexpected financial crashes, predatory marketing, or ubiquitous political misinformation.
Can AI Be Governed? Only If We Build Normatively Competent AI
Hadfield's discussion brings the idea of AI governance back to the core idea of steering the behavior of an AI system. As she notes, this not only involves technical questions about how AI systems ar...
Agentic AI Governance: Securing Autonomous AI Agents in Enterprise
When AI agents start making decisions, calling tools, and coordinating with other agents without waiting for human approval, the governance playbook most...
Artificial intelligence in government: why people feel they lose control
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in public administration is expanding rapidly. While AI promises greater efficiency and responsiveness, its integration into government and administration ra...
What does it mean for AI to be democratic?
Some pushback on a specific fuzzy idea with some ominous implications
From the Platform Society to the AI Society: Towards Critical Studies of Generative AI
The era of AI has begun. Generative AI is rapidly reshaping knowledge production, culture, and political authority, giving rise to an emerging AI society. Yet this transformation did not emerge ex nihilo. This paper argues that the AI society can only be understood in relation to the platform society from which it arises. Tracing the transition from platforms to AI, we identify interlinked economic, epistemic, and political shifts. Economically, AI emerges within platform-based rentier capitalism but reconfigures the monopoly mechanisms on which its accumulation depends. Epistemically, LLMs mark a shift from predictive to generative epistemics, entangling theory formation and knowledge production with private research-as-a-service infrastructures. Politically, governance shifts from data politics to alignment politics: from shaping visibility to shaping what can be said, thought, and imagined. Together, these transformations signal a qualitative shift in mediation—from governing interaction to governing cognition itself—and call for a Critical AI Studies.
From chatbots to assistants: governance is key for AI agents
AI's shift into agentic technology ushers in a new set of governance and security challenges that will mean defining to what extent they should be autonomous
