Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI
Lecture Series
How can we leverage the power of artificial intelligence to reimagine democracy?
Join the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University and its partner project The GovLab as we talk with innovative designers, thinkers, and changemakers from around the world working to “do democracy” differently.
We will explore how machine learning, natural language processing, generative AI, can enable more participatory and inclusive ways of solving problems and strengthen our ability to collaborate in governing ourselves.
Through online and in-person conversations with pioneers working to democratize power in governments, schools and workplaces, these conversations aim to address how to use new technologies to strengthen democracy.
This lecture series is part of the Burnes Center and GovLab’s program on Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI.
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Past Events
Reboot Democracy Lecture Series
Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI with Ed Bice of Meedan
March 20, 2025, 5:00 PM ET
Ed Bice is the CEO and Board Chair of the global technology non-profit Meedan. Since founding Meedan in 2006 he has devoted his professional energies to improving equity, accessibility, and credibility in online environments. Ed has led strategy and project definition on open source software development focused on human-in-the-loop approaches to translating, verifying, investigating and fact-checking digital content.
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The Peacemaking Machine with MIT and Deepmind's Michael Henry Tessler and Michiel A. Bakker
February 27, 2025, 4:00 PM ET
A conversation with MIT & Deepmind's Michael Henry Tessler & Michiel A. Bakker discussing how AI can transform democratic deliberation. In-person at Northeastern's campus, EXP, Room 610, 815 Columbus Ave, Boston.
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AI and the Future of Lawmaking: Innovation at the Library of Congress with Natalie Buda Smith
January 23, 2025, 5:00 PM ET
Natalie Buda Smith, Director of Digital Strategy at the Library of Congress, will discuss AI innovations at the Library that enhance legislative operations.
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Smart City, Smarter Citizens with Dr. San-Cheng Chang, Mayor of Taoyuan
December 5, 2024, 6:00 PM ET
Our discussion will explore Taoyuan's current smart infrastructure initiatives and future plans to foster vibrant communities and strengthen democracy through technology.
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OUR BIGGEST FIGHT: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity with Frank McCourt
November 19, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
Join us as we talk with Frank McCourt to discuss his new book, OUR BIGGEST FIGHT: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age.
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Leveraging AI to Promote Fair Elections with Jeanine Abrams McLean and Kate Gage
October 30, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
We will discuss the potential and limitations of generative AI for progressive organizing and campaigns while fostering new ideas, teams, and community.
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Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI with David Lesher on Using AI to Foster Legislative Transparency
September 12, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
Learn how Digital Democracy is tracking every word spoken in public hearings, every dollar donated to politicians, every bill introduced, every vote cast and more.
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AI and the Future of Workplace Democracy with Orly Lobel and Seth Harris
May 16, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI Lecture Series presents "AI and the Future of Workplace Democracy" with guest lecturers Orly Lobel and Seth Harris.
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Ian P. Sharp Lecture featuring Beth Simone Noveck
May 8, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
The Ian P. Sharp Lecture brings renowned guests to the University of Toronto to explore the transformative effects of information practice.
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AI for Participatory Planning with Damiano Cerrone and Liza Gazeev of UrbanistAI, and H. Killion Mokwete
April 11, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
UrbanistAI, cohosted by the Northeastern University School of Architecture. Virtual and in-person at Northeastern Center for Design, Ryder Hall, 11 Leon St #102 Boston, MA 02115
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A Conversation with Audrey Tang and Beth Simone Noveck
April 5, 2024, 12:00 PM ET
The discussion continues the Burnes Center’s Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI lecture series and serves as the Closing Plenary Session of Northeastern’s AI in Action Week.
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The Internet We Deserve with Tom Wheeler
March 26, 2024, 2:00 PM ET
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AI and the Future of Lawmaking with Marci Harris of POPVOX
March 21, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
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AI and Democracy’s First Principles with Danielle Allen and A.C. Grayling
February 15, 2024, 12:00 PM ET
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The Internet We Deserve with Professor Larry Lessig of Harvard Law School
February 6, 2024, 2:00 PM ET
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Reboot Democracy Lecture Series
AI and the Media with Jill Abramson and Ethan Zuckerman
January 25, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
In Partnership with:
Virtual and in-person at Northeastern University, EXP 204, 815 Columbus Ave, Boston MA
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How the History of the Internet Could Inform the Future of Democracy and AI with Vinton Cerf and John Battelle
January 18, 2024, 5:00 PM ET
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Combining Human and Machine Intelligence to Enhance Democracy with Sir Geoff Mulgan
November 16, 2023, 5:00 PM ET
Virtual and in-person at The Alumni Center at Northeastern University, 716 Columbus Avenue Boston, MA 02120
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AI and the Future of Youth Democracy with Zamaan Qureshi of Design It For Us, Sneha Revanur of Encode Justice, and Daniella DiPaola of the MIT Media Lab
November 9, 2023, 5:00 PM ET
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AI for Citizen Engagement with Róbert Bjarnason of Citizens Foundation, Colin Megill of Polis, and Professor Ariel Procaccia of Harvard University
October 26, 2023, 4:00 PM ET
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The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives with authors Brook Manville and Josiah Ober
September 21, 2023, 5:00 PM ET
Attendees may use discount code CIVIC30 for 30% off of "The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives" by Brook Manville and Josiah Ober when ordering through the Princeton University Press website.
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Looking Ahead: Enhanced Democracy by 2030 Through Digital Innovation
October 29, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
In this in-depth expert prognostication about the impact of the Internet on democracy, Lee Rainie discussed the devices, the developments, the innovations, growing optimism over new opportunities for citizen engagement, and activism as well as the looming risks.
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Mini-Publics: The Future of Democracy or Democracy Theater? Reviewing the Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review
October 15, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
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In this conversation, John Gastil and Jonathan E. Collins discuss the future of mini-publics and the spread of deliberative processes that link small-group deliberation to larger public processes, such as initiative elections.
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The McKinseyfication of the State
October 1, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
In this conversation, Ian McDougall explores the implications of governments turning to private sector consultancies to design and execute policy.
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Protecting Democracy 2021
August 20, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
Ian Bassin, co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy, explains what his organization does to better protect the country against future strongmen and get us back on a path towards perfecting our democracy.
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What Americans Want from Reform
July 22, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
This conversation with Dr. Paul C. Light, based on Paul's original series of posts on government reform for Brookings published in 2020, asked what Americans really want from government and how they can get it.
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We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems
March 31, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
In this conversation about his new book, Mitchell Weiss explores his 3 basic tenets to a new and improved way of governing: 1) Government that can imagine; 2) Government that can try new things; 3) Government that can scale.
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Local Voices Network
March 2, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
The Local Voices Network is an initiative that aims to create a new space for nuanced, constructive communication with the goal of surfacing underheard voices and connecting disparate communities. In this discussion, Deb Roy provides an overview of the effort, shares some examples of the system in use, and sketches some directions ahead.
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Moving Congress into the 21st century
February 9, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
During this event, Kevin Kosar, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and editor of the new book, "Congress Overwhelmed," explores the root of the shortcomings within Congress and the ways in which it can be reformed to work more efficiently, legitimately, and effectively to serve the American people.
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Building Civic Power
January 28, 2021, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
A conversation with Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party and Hollie Russon Gilman, Columbia Lecturer and New America Fellow, about the future of democratic activism and engagement in a time of crisis.
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Why We Need Direct Digital Democracy Today
May 19, 2020, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
In this talk, Dr. Roslyn Fuller brings to life her vision of a mass, direct, digital democracy and show how the principles of ancient Athenian direct democracy can be resurrected using digital technology.
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Continuity of Congress
May 13, 2020, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
This discussion with Hon. Dr. Brian Baird, Marci Harris, and Lorelei Kelly explores how the United States Congress can use technology to innovate and continue legislative operations during a crisis.
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Discussion | State Capacity: The Missing Ingredient in Economic Development
September 16, 2019, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
Dr. Reuben Abraham speaks about how the capability of the state is left out in many conversations around economic development, which tend to conflate symptoms of disease with the disease itself.
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Politics With the People
April 10, 2019, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
Michael A. Neblo and David M. J. Lazer present their new book with Kevin M. Esterling,Politics with the People, which develops the principles and practice of directly representative democracy a new way of connecting citizens and elected officials to improve representative government.
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Palaces for the People
February 25, 2019, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
In this conversation, Professor Eric Klinenberg explores what he calls "social infrastructure" and examines how they work, and what happens when they fail.
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Understanding the Outcome of the Midterm Elections
November 16, 2018, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
David Stasavage, Patrick Egan, Christina Greer, and Jeff Manza consider different facets of voter behavior and what 2018 can tell us about the legislative agenda over the next two years and the 2020 presidential campaign.
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The Future of Governments, from Data to A.I.
October 8, 2018, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
Cesar Hidalgo tells the story of resources which are revolutionizing the world of open data and government decision making, while Jos� Mart� discusses collective intelligence, its importance to democracy and legitimacy, and the reasons why we should not be designing and developing A.I. as a replacement for human democratic decision-making, but rather as a complement.
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System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot
October 8, 2018, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
A conversation with Jeremy Weinstein, Rob Reich, and Mehran Sahami about their new book, �SYSTEM ERROR.�
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Collective Intelligence and Democracy
September 26, 2018, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
The best political systems harness and amplify the brainpower of their citizens. The worst do the opposite. Around the world, many experiments are underway to tap collective intelligence � from neighborhoods to big strategic issues, budgets to laws. Here, Geoff Mulgan explores examples of collective intelligence in government.
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Government By The People, With the People: How g0v.tw is Transforming gov.tw, Four Years After the Sunflower Occupy Movement
September 20, 2018, 12:00 AM ET
In Partnership with:
In this discussion, Audrey Tang explores how civic technology is enabling new and improved forms of citizen participation, deliberation, and collaboration between government and the public, helping public institutions to benefit from the wisdom of the crowd and empowering citizen-led community at a national scale.
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