Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI

This week on Reboot Democracy, Beth Simone Noveck and Dane Gambrell explain why more people need to learn how to "do engagement" in the AI era and invite co-creation of a new online course. Sofía Bosch Gómez, Joanna French, and Belén Farmer Martinez reflect on co-designing AI with families in San Francisco. Merve Hickok examines South Korea’s investments in small models. Beyond Reboot, federal AI deployments have nearly doubled, with the DOT planning to use AI to write regulations; labor leaders are pressing for stronger worker protections; and fights over data centers and digital public infrastructure highlight how power and accountability are being negotiated in real time.

As Korea aims to become a top-three global AI power, the government has staked its strategy on “sovereign AI” as both an economic and national security priority. In this reflection, originally published in the Herald Insight Collection, Merve Hickok examines Korea’s multibillion-dollar investment in a national foundation model amid U.S.–China competition and the rise of Open-Source AI, asking whether alternative investments—such as small language models, compute and energy efficiency, and AI governance and evaluation—might better secure Korea’s long-term autonomy and global leadership.

As the AIEP project concludes its first pilot in San Francisco, it offers more than a new AI tool for navigating IEPs. It shows what becomes possible when families, educators, designers, and researchers co-design technology from the ground up. Through a free, open-source tool, a civic AI learning course, a community-centered playbook, and academic research, this work demonstrates a practical model for public-purpose AI rooted in lived experience, shared learning, and accountability. What began as support for parents has grown into a blueprint for building AI with communities, not just for them.