Common Good AI Newsletter (October 2024)

Common Good AI

Building common ground for the common good.

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our second newsletter. Since our launch last month, we received positive feedback from many of you–thank you!

In this newsletter, we highlight how we are building momentum around the idea of using collective intelligence to enable democratic engagement. Below, you will find several highlights from our ongoing outreach.

Given our passion for healthy civic participation, we would be remiss if we didn’t encourage all US citizens to vote on November 5. “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” -Thomas Jefferson

We welcome your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, which you can send to info@commongoodai.org.

Sincerely,

Victoria Stanski, Managing Director

with Founders, John Seely Brown, John Clippinger, John Cordier, Tom Kehler, and Kim Polese

Visit our website

Our origin story

Common Good AI started with a vision to build AI that did not extract intelligence for personal benefit or deplete natural resources, rather AI that fosters mutual benefit and ecological sustainability. The technology we use is informed by neuroscience and computational biology—the Free Energy Principle and Active Inference. It leverages the idea that deep learning works because it borrows from nature’s cooperative phenomena, as reflected in the physics of magnetism. Learn about why the founders launched this new nonprofit organization and what it hopes to achieve.

Read our origin story

Get under the hood, learn how it works

Listen to a conversation between Harvard Professor and political activist Larry Lessig and Kim Polese as they discuss the CrowdSmart platform, one of the digital tools we use, and how the technology builds consensus across diverse groups. Lessig’s weekly podcast, Another Way, is hosted by Equal Citizens and it is about how we can reform and improve US democracy. Each episode features insightful conversations with politicians, journalists, activists, innovators, and everyday heroes who share their journeys, challenges, and triumphs—and the power of grassroots movements.

Listen to the podcast

The Digitalist Papers

Twelve essays. Nineteen authors. One overarching goal: Present an array of possible futures that the AI revolution might produce. This collection, published by Stanford University and the Project Liberty Institute, includes an essay about how democratic deliberation through citizen assemblies can counterbalance our current “vetocracy”, where entrenched interests hinder progressive decision-making. Larry Lessig argues that engaging citizens in structured deliberative processes can enhance democratic legitimacy and responsiveness, leading to more equitable policy—and digital tools used by Common Good AI can enable it.

Read the essay

Share your ideas and insights

We want to hear about democracy-focused projects, useful digital tools for civic engagement, or any relevant research and resources. Reach out and share your ideas with us at info@commongoodai.org.