Henrik Skaug Sætra considers the basis of democracy, the nature of politics, the tilt toward digital sovereignty and what role AI plays in our collective human society.

Henrik and Kimberly discuss AI’s impact on human comprehension and communication; core democratic competencies at risk; politics as a joint human endeavor; conflating citizens with customers; productively messy processes; the problem of democracy; how AI could change what democracy means; whether democracy is computable; Google’s experiments in democratic AI; AI and digital sovereignty; and a multidisciplinary path forward.

Henrik Skaug Sætra is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Digitalisation and Head of the Technology and Sustainable Futures research group at Oslo University. He is also the CEO of Pathwais.eu connecting strategy, uncertainty, and action through scenario-based risk management.

Related Resources

• Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pvgdIpUAAAAJ&hl=en
• How to Save Democracy from AI (Book – Norwegian): https://www.norli.no/9788202853686
• AI for the Sustainable Development Goals (Book): https://www.amazon.com/AI-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Everything/dp/1032044063
• Technology and Sustainable Development: The Promise and Pitfalls of Techno-Solutionism (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Sustainable-Development-Pitfalls-Techno-Solutionism-ebook/dp/B0C17RBTVL

A transcript of this episode is here.

Dr. Rebecca Portnoff generates awareness of the threat landscape, enablers, challenges and solutions to the complex but addressable issue of online child sexual abuse.

Rebecca and Kimberly discuss trends in online child sexual abuse; pillars of impact and harm; how GenAI expands the threat landscape; personalized targeting and bespoke abuse; Thorn’s Safety by Design Initiative; scalable prevention strategies; technical and legal barriers; standards, consensus and commitment; building better from the beginning; accountability as an innovative goal; and not confusing complex with unsolvable.

Dr. Rebecca Portnoff is the Vice President of Data Science at Thorn, a non-profit dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse. Read Thorn’s seminal Safety by Design paper, bookmark the Research Center to stay updated and support Thorn’s critical work by donating here.

Related Resources

• Thorn’s Safety by Design Initiative (News): https://www.thorn.org/blog/generative-ai-principles/
• Safety by Design Progress Reports: https://www.thorn.org/blog/thorns-safety-by-design-for-generative-ai-progress-reports/
• Thorn + SIO AIG-CSAM Research (Report): https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/io/news/ml-csam-report

A transcript of this episode is here.

Hiwot Tesfaye disputes the notion of AI givers and takers, challenges innovation as an import, highlights untapped global potential, and charts a more inclusive course.

Hiwot and Kimberly discuss the two camps myth of inclusivity; finding innovation everywhere; meaningful AI adoption and diffusion; limitations of imported AI; digital colonialism; low-resource languages and illiterate LLMs; an Icelandic success story; situating AI in time and place; employment over automation; capacity and skill building; skeptical delight and making the case for multi-lingual, multi-cultural AI.

Hiwot Tesfaye is a Technical Advisor in Microsoft’s Office of Responsible AI and a Loomis Council Member at the Stimson Center where she helped launch the Global Perspectives: Responsible AI Fellowship.

Related Resources

• #35 Navigating AI: Ethical Challenges and Opportunities a conversation with Hiwot Tesfaye

A transcript of this episode is here.