Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI

This week on Reboot Democracy, Beth Simone Noveck argues that governments are among the largest buyers of AI yet rarely use that purchasing power to demand transparency, interoperability, and public accountability. Seth Harris examines how AI could accelerate the shift toward skills-based hiring, expanding opportunity for workers without traditional degrees while raising risks around bias. In Global AI Watch, Elana Banin speaks with B Cavello about why institutional capacity is the central barrier to addressing global food insecurity. Beyond Reboot, Meta’s $65 million election integrity push faces scrutiny as AI-generated disinformation spreads across democratic elections. Pennsylvania lawmakers are moving to regulate AI mental health chatbots. Researchers propose deliberative technologies to help Congress process civic input. Schools are rethinking assessment in the age of generative AI, and Italian regulators have ordered Amazon to halt the collection of sensitive worker data tied to AI-enabled workplace surveillance.

In this interview, B Cavello discusses findings from an Aspen Institute global survey and reflects on what it reveals about the intersection of AI and food systems. Practitioners consistently emphasized institutional capacity, governance, and distributional challenges as central constraints. The conversation explores how AI might support greater transparency, participation, and resilience, and what these insights mean for U.S. state and local policymakers working on food security, land governance, and public-sector capacity.

Artificial intelligence is often portrayed as a force that will destroy jobs. In this essay, Seth Harris argues that it can also expand opportunity. By using AI to identify and remove unnecessary college degree requirements in state hiring, governments can reduce barriers to public employment, address racial and class disparities, and fill critical roles more efficiently. Backed by new research underway from the Burnes Center for Social Change, supported by the GitLab Foundation, he outlines how thoughtfully deployed AI can break down barriers and accelerate the shift to skills-based hiring.