Newsletter March 2025

Dear Friends,

Like many of you, we are concerned about the global backslide in democracy. CIVICUS released their 2025 State of Civil Society report this month that draws from more than 300 interviews and analysis across 120 countries. The report’s message is clear: the rules-based international order is eroding, but people are still mobilizing, organizing, and winning. More than ever, we need to collaborate across divides and use new tools to foster greater voice, engagement, and community problem solving.  

We asked Common Good AI’s Founders: in this current political landscape, what will enable greater adoption of deliberative digital tools to foster community problem solving and democratic engagement? Their responses:

• We need to focus on facts. Misinformation is a great threat to deliberation. The deterioration of using accurate information is impacting our ability to discuss and solve issues.

• There are so many challenges to navigate and we need to focus on specific issues, build specific campaigns, and integrate tools to help us be effective. We need to understand user personas so we can incentivize and mobilize individuals to act.

• Democracy requires hard work—and we need to find ways to make it engaging and fun. We want people to feel a real connection and find it nourishing to engage in productive dialogue.

Building on these themes, in this newsletter, we highlight two real-time applications of deliberative digital tools that are currently underway that enable greater citizen participation and dialogue. We also share a new report from More in Common with insights about Americans desire to collaborate across differences—worth reading and sharing with others! 

As always, we are open to questions and ideas on digital technology to support community engagement and problem solving. Write to us at info@commongoodai.org.

All the best,

Victoria Stanski, Managing Director

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