The fediverse promises social media without Big Tech – if it can avoid familiar pitfalls

The fediverse promises an egalitarian, noncommercial alternative to Big Tech for social media, but there’s a lot of work needed to make it work.

Robert W. Gehl, Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance for Social Justice, York University, Canada • conversation
March 12, 2025 ~7 min

5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since COVID-19

Public school access to high-quality teachers is shrinking, while teen reports of feeling unsafe at school are on the rise.

Gravity Goldberg, Visiting Assistant Professor in Education Studies, Wesleyan University • conversation
March 10, 2025 ~10 min


5 ways schools have shifted in 5 years since the COVID-19

Public school access to high-quality teachers is shrinking, while teen reports of feeling unsafe at school are on the rise.

Gravity Goldberg, Visiting Assistant Professor in Education Studies, Wesleyan University • conversation
March 10, 2025 ~10 min

Beyond AI regulation: How government and industry can team up to make the technology safer without hindering innovation

AI innovation and governance can coexist. The key is combining public-private partnerships, market audits and accountability.

Paulo Carvão, Senior Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School • conversation
March 7, 2025 ~9 min

DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power

As DOGE taps into sensitive federal agency data repositories, many people fear what could happen to the data. One little-discussed but hugely consequential possibility: fueling Elon Musk’s xAI company.

Allison Stanger, Distinguished Endowed Professor, Middlebury • conversation
March 6, 2025 ~11 min

How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters

18F was the US government’s in-house technology consultancy, lauded for saving taxpayer money and improving services. Here’s what it did − and what’s now lost.

Kayla Schwoerer, Assistant Professor of Public Administration & Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York • conversation
March 6, 2025 ~7 min

AI could supercharge human collective intelligence in everything from disaster relief to medical research

AI could help augment human intelligence in areas such as disaster relief.

Taha Yasseri, Workday Chair of Technology and Society, Sociology, Trinity College Dublin • conversation
March 3, 2025 ~6 min

AIs flunk language test that takes grammar out of the equation

Humans understand that ‘red ball’ makes sense but ‘ball red’ does not. Large language models? Not so much.

Rutvik Desai, Professor of Psychology, University of South Carolina • conversation
Feb. 26, 2025 ~8 min


YouTube was born from a failed dating site – 20 years on, the world’s biggest video platform faces new challenges

When that concept failed, the founders opened the site up to any type of video – and transformed the way we consume and create media.

Evelyn Polacek Kery, PhD Researcher in Social Work & Social Care, School of Education & Social Work, University of Sussex • conversation
Feb. 21, 2025 ~8 min

Trump threatens to disrupt the world’s critical minerals supply – but there are reasons to be positive

If Trump turns towards oil and gas, it could affect the minerals needed for the clean energy transition.

Carlo Pietrobelli, Professor of Economics, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), United Nations University • conversation
Feb. 19, 2025 ~6 min

/

61