This is a WILD WITH SARAH WILSON conversation, investigating ideas and practices that can help build our new, life-generating future. We are in a liminal time, between an old world that is no longer holding and a new world - “the what comes next” - that’s yet to emerge. Now is the time to be imagining this future together. If this episode inspires you, please share it with loved ones.
Today’s guest is the infamous “civic hacker” Audrey Tang. Audrey is Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador-at-Large and one of the world’s most influential thinkers (according to Time), and she has a vision for a pro-social AI that is exciting leaders around the world. Audrey became Taiwan’s Digital Minister after she hacked the government to turn around a trade deal with China. The result was so ridiculously effective that, instead of arresting her, they gave her a gig in the government! During her eight-year tenure, she engaged almost half the country in co-creating democratic policies with her technology. The upshot? Trust in the government went from nine per cent to a peak of 91 per cent…and during the pandemic!
I asked Audrey to join us to answer this wild question that burns for many of us: Is it still possible to save AI – and ourselves - from techno-fascist doom?
Which is to ask, can we wrestle AI off the tech bros and turn it all around to make it a force for good? And if so, how? And what would it look like?
You might recall that Samantha Sweetwater mentions Audrey’s work and impact on last week’s episode of Wild. Honestly, her work tends to blow people’s minds…
Got questions?
Audrey and I will answer questions and respond to your feedback in the comments section. I really want this to be an “emergent” and shared conversation.
About Audrey
Audrey Tang is an activist hacker and was the first Digital Minister of Taiwan (and the world’s first transgender government minister), instrumental in shaping Taiwan’s internationally acclaimed COVID-19 response and in safeguarding the 2024 presidential and legislative elections from foreign cyber interference. She’s been named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in AI” (2023), is now Taiwan’s cyber Ambassador-at-large and has just published a book, Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy.
Show Notes
Remember, you can now watch us live on YouTube!!!
Here’s the link to Audrey’s short film, titled Good Enough Ancestor, and you can read about Civic AI — 6-Pack of Care here.
You can get hold of her book Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy here.
Sarah xx
