logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
10m 52s

How AI and democracy can fix each other ...

TED
About this episode
We don't have to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of technological progress, says social technologist Divya Siddarth. She shares how a group of people helped retrain one of the world's most powerful AI models on a constitution they wrote — and offers a vision of technology that aligns with the principles of democracy, rather than conflicting with them.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
A story of moral imagination and bold entrepreneurship | Sitoyo Lopokoiyit and Jacqueline Novogratz
In a conversation about visionary leadership, M-PESA CEO Sitoyo Lopokoiyit speaks with impact investor and Acumen CEO Jacqueline Novogratz about how he grew a nascent mobile payment service into Africa’s largest fintech platform — which now handles nearly 60 percent of Kenya's GD ... Show More
19m 36s
Yesterday
"Marigolds," a poem about wonder | Safiya Sinclair
Poet Safiya Sinclair performs "Marigolds: A Letter to Wonder," an original poem she created for TED that explores memory, beauty and the fragility of life. After the poem, she talks with TED's Helen Walters about her writing process — and what it feels like when the creative muse ... Show More
9m 2s
Jul 8
The miraculous device that saved my farm — and changed my life | Josephine Waweru
Exhausted from carrying water up a hill to keep her small farm in Kenya thriving, Josephine Waweru received an unexpected call that offered a nearly unbelievable solution. She shares how one simple device allowed her crops (and her dreams) to flourish — and offers a glimmer of ho ... Show More
10m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2024
How AI and democracy can fix each other | Divya Siddarth
We don't have to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of technological progress, says social technologist Divya Siddarth. She shares how a group of people helped retrain one of the world's most powerful AI models on a constitution they wrote — and offers a vision of technology that ... Show More
12m 2s
May 2023
The Tech We Need for 21st Century Democracy with Divya Siddarth
Democracy in action has looked the same for generations. Constituents might go to a library or school every one or two years and cast their vote for people who don't actually represent everything that they care about. Our technology is rapidly increasing in sophistication, yet ou ... Show More
38m 39s
Sep 2023
Mustafa Suleyman Says We Need to Contain AI. How Do We Do It?
This is going to be the most productive decade in the history of our species, says Mustafa Suleyman, author of “The Coming Wave,” CEO of Inflection AI, and founder of Google’s DeepMind. But in order to truly reap the benefits of AI, we need to learn how to contain it. Paradoxical ... Show More
32m 4s
May 2024
AI and Jobs: How to Make AI Work With Us, Not Against Us With Daron Acemoglu
Tech companies say that AI will lead to massive economic productivity gains. But as we know from the first digital revolution, that’s not what happened. Can we do better this time around?RECOMMENDED MEDIAPower and Progress by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson Professor Acemoglu co ... Show More
46m 48s
Apr 2023
Can We Govern AI?
When it comes to AI, what kind of regulations might we need to address this rapidly developing new class of technologies? What makes regulating AI and runaway tech in general different from regulating airplanes, pharmaceuticals, or food? And how can we ensure that issues like nat ... Show More
39m 47s
Feb 2024
Future-proofing Democracy In the Age of AI with Audrey Tang
What does a functioning democracy look like in the age of artificial intelligence? Could AI even be used to help a democracy flourish? Just in time for election season, Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang returns to the podcast to discuss healthy information ecosyste ... Show More
34m 38s
Jul 2023
Humanity's Thousand Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
In the Middle Ages, agricultural advancements enriched the nobility and the Church, which used the wealth generated to build themselves magnificent houses and cathedrals, while the peasants went hungry. The early years of England’s industrial revolution brought stagnant incomes f ... Show More
39m 46s
Mar 2024
Your creative superpowers can help protect democracy | Sofia Ongele
"Democracy is more fun and inviting when you take it into your own hands," says creator and activist Sofia Ongele. Sharing how she's using coding and social media to defend democracy, Ongele invites us to identify our own creative superpowers — whether it's community organizing, ... Show More
11m 50s
Nov 2023
The Promise and Peril of Open Source AI with Elizabeth Seger and Jeffrey Ladish
As AI development races forward, a fierce debate has emerged over open source AI models. So what does it mean to open-source AI? Are we opening Pandora’s box of catastrophic risks? Or is open-sourcing AI the only way we can democratize its benefits and dilute the power of big tec ... Show More
38m 44s
Nov 2023
A First Step Toward AI Regulation with Tom Wheeler
On Monday, Oct. 30, President Biden released a sweeping executive order that addresses many risks of artificial intelligence. Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, shares his insights on the order with Tristan and Aza and discusses what’s next in ... Show More
35m 24s