A map of the future of democratic governance

How I see my beat

One of the first things I did to prepare for launching Futurepolis was to map out my beat—the universe of things I’ll be covering. As I wrote at the outset, I see a very wide array of activities and issues—from deliberative democracy to government technology procurement to fighting misinformation to regulating Big Tech—as facets of the question of how to reinvent governance for the 21st century.

Yesterday I gave a talk at FWD50, a conference about technology and government, and presented a first draft of this map in visual form. The video of the talk is paywalled but you can browse the map in Prezi, and I’ve recorded a walkthrough, below.

If you go through it, I’m eager for feedback. What topic areas am I missing? What should be organized differently? And, if you work in one of these areas yourself, what should I be covering? I’m particularly interested in stories of people who are doing extraordinary work in these areas, rather than abstract issues. It’s through the personal stories of people trying to make a change, and what they’re up against, that one can make the issues resonate beyond a narrow group of policy wonks and scholars.

So all comments and suggestions are welcome at futurepolis@substack.com. Thank you!

Also, I’m doing two events next week. On Monday October 14th I’m speaking at The Commons in San Francisco on “Journalism in the Age of AI.” Registration (free) is here.

On Tuesday October 15th I’ll be doing a livestreamed conversation with Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard and MIT, about his new book Tech Agnostic, in which he argues that “technology has overtaken religion as the chief influencer in 21st Century life and community.” You can sign up to watch/listen here.

Links

Listening may not be the key to persuasion. It’s become a nostrum of conflict resolution that the way to change someone’s mind is first to listen earnestly to their point of view. Some new research suggests that, in fact, a persuasive narrative has just as much effect whether you listen or not. (Better Conflict Bulletin)

In favor of California’s AI bill. Last week I linked to Casey Newton’s apologia for governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to veto SB 1047. Now Scott Alexander mounts a robust defense of the bill and accuses Newsom of acting out of narrow personal interests. (Astral Codex Ten)

A Federalist Papers for the 21st century. The “Digitalist Papers” is a collection of essays on what AI means for democratic governance. Contributors include well-known names like Audrey Tang, Lawrence Lessig, Sandy Pentland, Jen Pahlka, Reid Hoffman, and James Manyika. (Stanford Center for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence)

The case for public data banks. In response to big AI firms scraping the internet to train their models, content providers are increasingly locking up their data, making it harder for new AI entrants and helping the big firms retain their power. Carefully curated public data sources might help. (Lawfare)

Making tech policy “people-first.” Ami Fields-Meyer, Kamala Harris’s former tech policy adviser, outlines his research agenda as a new fellow at Harvard’s Ash Center, looking for “policy interventions that can steer technological innovation toward agency, economic security, and opportunity.” (Ash Center)