Research Radar: In Lobsters We Do Not Trust — The Wrong Path for AI and Democracy Part 1
Beth Simone Noveck critiques Habermolt, an experimental project that uses AI agents to deliberate and vote on behalf of people. She argues that the project reflects a longstanding strain of democratic theory that views public participation as a problem rather than a resource. At a moment of declining trust and growing institutional challenges, there should be less focus on whether AI can simulate democracy and more on how it can help governments listen, learn, and solve problems with the public.
Part II by José Martí is forthcoming.
Published on Jun 16, 2026 by Beth Simone Noveck and José Luis Marti
How technology can help save democracy | The TechTank Podcast
Beth Simone Noveck recently appeared on the Brookings TechTank podcast to discuss her forthcoming book, Reboot: AI and the Race to Save Democracy (Yale University Press), arguing that AI offers powerful opportunities to strengthen democratic institutions and making the case for a "possibilist" approach to building tools that make democracy more responsive and effective.
Published on Jun 16, 2026
AI and Education
The Herald: Pretending AI is not in schools could pose the biggest risk
Beth Simone Noveck spoke to The Herald (Scotland) about the role of AI in education and the need for decision-makers to engage with the technology rather than fear it, ahead of her talk at the Edinburgh Futures Institute's Civic University – Democracy, AI, and the Public Imagination."
Published on Jun 15, 2026
AI for Governance
The Future of AI Runs Through Families: A conversation with Anya Kamenetz
What happens when the people working closest to families are forced to confront AI? In this conversation with Elana Banin, journalist Anya Kamenetz reflects on a three-day workshop that brought together service providers, advocates, technologists, policymakers, journalists, and philanthropists to wrestle with that question. The discussion explores why families have been largely absent from AI governance debates, how to shape the trajectory of technological change, and what it would take to build AI with communities rather than for them.
Published on Jun 15, 2026 by Elana Banin
Global AI Watch
The World Cup Is Here. So is VAR. Here's What That Mess Can Teach Us About A.I.
Billions of people are about to watch the World Cup. And millions of them will spend part of it furious, not at the teams, but at football's most contentious technology: the Video Assistant Referee. In this article, Anirudh Dinesh argues we are making the same mistake in how we design, build, and use AI, and shares four lessons VAR can teach us about what happens when you build tech without asking who it's actually meant for.
Published on Jun 10, 2026 by Anirudh Dinesh
Research Radar
Turning 20 Years of Community Board Data Into Searchable Public Knowledge
Local government generates enormous amounts of public knowledge, but much of it remains buried in disconnected PDFs and difficult-to-navigate archives. This post explores how the Block Party team used AI, semantic search, and human expertise to build a searchable archive of 17 years of Manhattan Community Board 3 resolutions, making local government decisions, institutional memory, and civic participation more accessible to residents, journalists, and public officials.
Published on Jun 9, 2026 by Sarah Sachs and Tal Roded
AI and Problem Solving
Civic University – Democracy, AI, and the Public Imagination
As AI transforms how we work, learn, and govern, what role should universities play? In this wide-ranging conversation, Beth Noveck argues that universities should become laboratories for democratic problem-solving, where students work with communities to address public challenges. She outlines a vision for "democratic AI" that puts public purpose, participation, and impact at the center of technological innovation.
Published on Jun 8, 2026 by Beth Simone Noveck
Beth Simone Noveck on Cool Science Radio : AI and the Race to Save Democracy
In this interview with Cool Science Radio, Beth Simone Noveck discusses the central argument of her new book, Reboot: AI and the Race to Save Democracy, that AI is not simply a threat to democracy but a tool that can help make governments more effective, responsive, and participatory. Drawing on examples from around the world, she explores how AI can improve public services, strengthen civic engagement, and rebuild trust in democratic institutions.
Published on Jun 8, 2026 by Beth Simone Noveck
Global AI Watch
From digital to AI-enabled government: Kazakhstan's next frontier
Kazakhstan built one of the world’s most advanced digital governments in less than two decades. Now the country is racing into the next phase: AI-enabled governance, sovereign AI infrastructure, and nationwide AI deployment. But this transition is exposing a harder question beneath the ambition: what happens when countries move toward frontier AI systems before large parts of the population have reliable electricity, affordable internet, laptops, or the skills needed to use AI meaningfully?
Published on Jun 3, 2026 by Gulnaz Kordanova
Research Radar
Research Radar: 10 Things Public Officials Should Know About AI Data Centers
AI data centers are arriving in communities long before most public institutions have figured out how to govern them. Drawing on recent analysis, fieldwork, and an InnovateUS workshop, Deborah Stine examines the questions public officials are now confronting around electricity, water, jobs, infrastructure, public trust, and community impact. She argues that AI data centers are far more than technology projects; they are major public policy decisions that will shape how communities experience the AI economy.
Published on Jun 2, 2026 by Dr. Deborah Stine
AI and Education
The Scotsman: Scotland uniquely able to redefine the purpose of universities, Obama advisor claims
Ahead of a timely conversation around the civic role of the university in an age of democratic uncertainty and rapid technological change, Beth Simone Noveck spoke to the Scotsman about how Scotland's universities are uniquely place to reinvent the purpose of higher education.
Published on Jun 2, 2026 by Beth Simone Noveck
AI for Governance
Leadership is About Setting Goals, Supporting the Team, and Getting Out of the Way
Public servants are asking for leadership training at the same moment AI is reshaping government work. This reflection on InnovateUS’s Foundations of Leadership workshop series explores why the most important leadership challenges today are often deeply human ones: creating psychological safety, building real teams instead of loose groups, giving honest feedback, understanding strengths, and helping people perform under pressure and uncertainty. Across five sessions, participants wrestled with the gap between knowing what good leadership looks like and consistently practicing it within real organizations.
Published on Jun 1, 2026 by Anita McGahan
Global AI Watch
Bellagio: Five Days, 16 Members of Congress, and an Unusually Honest Conversation About AI
Mariana Becerra of the Eleanor Crook Foundation went to the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center expecting a conversation about AI and geopolitical competition with bipartisan, bicameral members of Congress. She came back convinced that AI is already reshaping how public health systems function, how advocacy operates, and which organizations will have the capacity to influence policy. Drawing on conversations with lawmakers, researchers, and philanthropy leaders, this piece examines the growing gap between where AI governance debates are happening and the resulting consequences.
Published on May 27, 2026 by Mariana Becerra
Research Radar
Research Radar: The Six-Word Problem: Will Voice Improve How We Research the Impacts of AI?
AI for Impact Fellows Sai Punith Kolla and Swaapnika Chowdary Cherukuru built Public Voice, a lightweight voice-based feedback tool designed to capture concrete examples of how learners apply AI in practice. The piece explores the design challenge behind the tool, why voice responses may produce richer evidence than text surveys, and what it means to measure whether public-sector AI training is translating into real workflow change.
Published on May 26, 2026 by Sai Punith Kolla and Swaapnika Chowdary Cherukuru
AI for Governance
Why Effective AI Governance Depends on Strong Justice Systems
As governments rush to regulate AI, many governance frameworks still overlook what happens when people are harmed. This piece argues that AI governance will be tested by legal systems already struggling to deliver equal access to justice. Drawing on the recent report "A People-Centered Justice Approach to Implementing AI Governance," examples from Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States make the case for bringing courts, legal aid organizations, and justice institutions into the center of AI governance design.
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