Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI

Boston is preparing for a future where AI agents increasingly interact with government systems. In this interview, Boston's Chief Information Officer Santiago Garces explains how the city is experimenting with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) as a governance layer between AI and public digital infrastructure. Starting with the open data portal, Boston is testing how MCP can make AI interactions more reliable, secure, and grounded in real government data. The effort provides a concrete example of how to safely support the emerging “agentic web” while improving access to public services.

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.