Introduction to special issue by Christoph Riedl and David De Cremer: “AI has emerged as a transformative force in society, reshaping economies, work, and everyday life. We argue that AI can not only improve short-term productivity but can also enhance a group’s collective intelligence. Specifically, AI can be employed to enhance three elements of collective intelligence: collective memory, collective attention, and collective reasoning. This editorial reviews key emerging work in the area to suggest ways in which AI can support the socio-cognitive architecture of collective intelligence. We will then briefly introduce the articles in the “AI for Collective Intelligence” special issue…(More)”.
LLM Social Simulations Are a Promising Research Method
Paper by Jacy Reese Anthis et al: “Accurate and verifiable large language model (LLM) simulations of human research subjects promise an accessible data source for understanding human behavior and training new AI systems. However, results to date have been limited, and few social scientists have adopted these methods. In this position paper, we argue that the promise of LLM social simulations can be achieved by addressing five tractable challenges. We ground our argument in a literature survey of empirical comparisons between LLMs and human research subjects, commentaries on the topic, and related work. We identify promising directions with prompting, fine-tuning, and complementary methods. We believe that LLM social simulations can already be used for exploratory research, such as pilot experiments for psychology, economics, sociology, and marketing. More widespread use may soon be possible with rapidly advancing LLM capabilities, and researchers should prioritize developing conceptual models and evaluations that can be iteratively deployed and refined at pace with ongoing AI advances…(More)”.
Need a Side Gig? In China, Just Shake Your Phone
Article by Chen Yiru: “From a restaurant shift to a quick plumbing job, gig work in China is now just a phone shake away.
That’s the idea behind Tencent’s new “Nearby Jobs” feature, which was quietly rolled out nationwide on its messaging super app WeChat last week. Aimed at flexible job seekers, the tool connects users to verified listings in fields like driving, design, tech support, and catering — all within the country’s most-used app.
First piloted in Jiangmen, a city in the southern Guangdong province, the mini-program has expanded to more than 200 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Tencent says it has already helped over 24,000 people secure short-term work, with filters that let users sort listings by pay, distance, payment schedule, and even gender preferences.The “Nearby Jobs” tool borrows from WeChat’s classic “Shake” feature, first introduced in 2012 to connect nearby users by physically shaking their phones. While the original version was discontinued for mainland users in early 2024 due to privacy concerns, traces of the function have recently resurfaced in limited testing — hinting at a possible revival.
The launch comes amid rising demand for platforms that can bridge the gap between gig employers and job seekers. China is home to an estimated 200 million flexible workers, and market demand for blue-collar labor has surged 380% over the past five years, according to a 2024 industry report. Younger workers are driving much of this growth, with job applicants under 25 rising by 165% during the same period…(More)”.
Enabling an Open-Source AI Ecosystem as a Building Block for Public AI
Policy brief by Katarzyna Odrozek, Vidisha Mishra, Anshul Pachouri, Arnav Nigam: “…informed by insights from 30 open dataset builders convened by Mozilla and EleutherAI and a policy analysis on open-source Artificial intelligence (AI) development, outlines four key areas for G7 action: expand access to open data, support sustainable governance, encourage policy alignment in open-source AI and local capacity building and identification of use cases. These steps will enhance AI competitiveness, accountability, and innovation, positioning the G7 as a leader in Responsible AI development…(More)”.
Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer’s Research Could Be Lost Forever
Article by Sam Cole: “Almost two dozen repositories of research and public health data supported by the National Institutes of Health are marked for “review” under the Trump administration’s direction, and researchers and archivists say the data is at risk of being lost forever if the repositories go down.
“The problem with archiving this data is that we can’t,” Lisa Chinn, Head of Research Data Services at the University of Chicago, told 404 Media. Unlike other government datasets or web pages, downloading or otherwise archiving NIH data often requires a Data Use Agreement between a researcher institution and the agency, and those agreements are carefully administered through a disclosure risk review process.
A message appeared at the top of multiple NIH websites last week that says: “This repository is under review for potential modification in compliance with Administration directives.”
Repositories with the message include archives of cancer imagery, Alzheimer’s disease research, sleep studies, HIV databases, and COVID-19 vaccination and mortality data…
“So far, it seems like what is happening is less that these data sets are actively being deleted or clawed back and more that they are laying off the workers whose job is to maintain them, update them and maintain the infrastructure that supports them,” a librarian affiliated with the Data Rescue Project told 404 Media. “In time, this will have the same effect, but it’s really hard to predict. People don’t usually appreciate, much less our current administration, how much labor goes into maintaining a large research dataset.”…(More)”.
Situating Digital Self-Determination (DSD): A Comparison with Existing and Emerging Digital and Data Governance Approaches
Paper by Sara Marcucci and Stefaan Verhulst: “In today’s increasingly complex digital landscape, traditional data governance models-such as consent-based, ownership-based, and sovereignty-based approaches-are proving insufficient to address the evolving ethical, social, and political dimensions of data use. These frameworks, often grounded in static and individualistic notions of control, struggle to keep pace with the fluidity and relational nature of contemporary data ecosystems. This paper proposes Digital Self-Determination (DSD) as a complementary and necessary evolution of existing models, offering a more participatory, adaptive, and ethically grounded approach to data governance. Centering ongoing agency, collective participation, and contextual responsiveness, DSD builds on foundational principles of consent and control while addressing their limitations. Drawing on comparisons with a range of governance models-including risk-based, compliance-oriented, principles-driven, and justice-centered frameworks-this paper highlights DSD’s unique contribution: its capacity to enable individuals and communities to actively shape how data about them is used, shared, and governed over time. In doing so, it reimagines data governance as a living, co-constructed practice grounded in trust, accountability, and care. Through this lens, the paper offers a framework for comparing different governance approaches and embedding DSD into existing paradigms, inviting policymakers and practitioners to consider how more inclusive and responsive forms of digital governance might be realized…(More)”.
Engaging Youth on Responsible Data Reuse: 5 Lessons Learnt from a Multi-Country Experiment
Article by Elena Murray, Moiz Shaikh and Stefaan G. Verhulst: “Young people seeking essential services — like mental health care, education, or public benefits — are often asked to share personal data in order to access the service, without having any say in how it is being collected, shared or used, or why. If young people distrust how their data is being used, they may avoid services or withhold important information, fearing misuse. This can unintentionally widen the very gaps these services aim to close.
To build trust, service providers and policymakers must involve young people in co-designing how their data is collected and used. Understanding their concerns, values, and expectations is key to developing data practices that reflect their needs. Empowering young people to develop the conditions for data re-use and design solutions to their concerns enables digital self determination.
The question is then: what does meaningful engagement actually look like — and how can we get it right?
To answer that question, we engaged four partners in four different countries and conducted:
- 1000 hours of youth participation, involving more than 70 young people.
- 12 youth engagement events.
- Six expert talks and mentorship sessions.
These activities were undertaken as part of the NextGenData project, a year-long global collaboration supported by the Botnar Foundation, that piloted a methodology for youth engagement on responsible data reuse in Moldova, Tanzania, India and Kyrgyzstan.
A key outcome of our work was a youth engagement methodology, which we recently launched. In the below, we reflect on what we learnt — and how we can apply these learnings to ensure that the future of data-driven services both serves the needs of, and is guided by, young people.
Lessons Learnt:…(More)”
AI Liability Along the Value Chain
Report by Beatriz Botero Arcila: “…explores how liability law can help solve the “problem of many hands” in AI: that is, determining who is responsible for harm that has been dealt in a value chain in which a variety of different companies and actors might be contributing to the development of any given AI system. This is aggravated by the fact that AI systems are both opaque and technically complex, making their behavior hard to predict.
Why AI Liability Matters
To find meaningful solutions to this problem, different kinds of experts have to come together. This resource is designed for a wide audience, but we indicate how specific audiences can best make use of different sections, overviews, and case studies.
Specifically, the report:
- Proposes a 3-step analysis to consider how liability should be allocated along the value chain: 1) The choice of liability regime, 2) how liability should be shared amongst actors along the value chain and 3) whether and how information asymmetries will be addressed.
- Argues that where ex-ante AI regulation is already in place, policymakers should consider how liability rules will interact with these rules.
- Proposes a baseline liability regime where actors along the AI value chain share responsibility if fault can be demonstrated, paired with measures to alleviate or shift the burden of proof and to enable better access to evidence — which would incentivize companies to act with sufficient care and address information asymmetries between claimants and companies.
- Argues that in some cases, courts and regulators should extend a stricter regime, such as product liability or strict liability.
- Analyzes liability rules in the EU based on this framework…(More)”.
Europe’s GDPR privacy law is headed for red tape bonfire within ‘weeks’
Article by Ellen O’Regan: “Europe’s most famous technology law, the GDPR, is next on the hit list as the European Union pushes ahead with its regulatory killing spree to slash laws it reckons are weighing down its businesses.
The European Commission plans to present a proposal to cut back the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR for short, in the next couple of weeks. Slashing regulation is a key focus for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as part of an attempt to make businesses in Europe more competitive with rivals in the United States, China and elsewhere.
The EU’s executive arm has already unveiled packages to simplify rules around sustainability reporting and accessing EU investment. The aim is for companies to waste less time and money on complying with complex legal and regulatory requirements imposed by EU laws…Seven years later, Brussels is taking out the scissors to give its (in)famous privacy law a trim.
There are “a lot of good things about GDPR, [and] privacy is completely necessary. But we don’t need to regulate in a stupid way. We need to make it easy for businesses and for companies to comply,” Danish Digital Minister Caroline Stage Olsen told reporters last week. Denmark will chair the work in the EU Council in the second half of 2025 as part of its rotating presidency.
The criticism of the GDPR echoes the views of former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who released a landmark economic report last September warning that Europe’s complex laws were preventing its economy from catching up with the United States and China. “The EU’s regulatory stance towards tech companies hampers innovation,” Draghi wrote, singling out the Artificial Intelligence Act and the GDPR…(More)”.
Digital Technologies and Participatory Governance in Local Settings: Comparing Digital Civic Engagement Initiatives During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Chapter by Nathalie Colasanti, Chiara Fantauzzi, Rocco Frondizi & Noemi Rossi: “Governance paradigms have undergone a deep transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating agile, inclusive, and responsive mechanisms to address evolving challenges. Participatory governance has emerged as a guiding principle, emphasizing inclusive decision-making processes and collaboration among diverse stakeholders. In the outbreak context, digital technologies have played a crucial role in enabling participatory governance to flourish, democratizing participation, and facilitating the rapid dissemination of accurate information. These technologies have also empowered grassroots initiatives, such as civic hacking, to address societal challenges and mobilize communities for collective action. This study delves into the realm of bottom-up participatory initiatives at the local level, focusing on two emblematic cases of civic hacking experiences launched during the pandemic, the first in Wuhan, China, and the second in Italy. Through a comparative lens, drawing upon secondary sources, the aim is to analyze the dynamics, efficacy, and implications of these initiatives, shedding light on the evolving landscape of participatory governance in times of crisis. Findings underline the transformative potential of civic hacking and participatory governance in crisis response, highlighting the importance of collaboration, transparency, and inclusivity…(More)”.