Stefaan Verhulst

Book by David Weinberger: “Amid the clamor about AI, Beautiful Particulars poses a unique question: Not how does our use of AI change what we do, but how is the idea of AI already subtly yet fundamentally reshaping how we think about ourselves and our world?

In clear, engaging, and even humorous prose, David Weinberger offers a new perspective on how machine learning works and how it may already be changing our basic and deepest ideas. Through lively examples, he shows that AI’s success—with all its risks and dangers—is taking us past our millennia of reliance on laws and principles by revealing what morality, free will, creativity, causality knowledge, and even reality itself look like now that we’re able to let the particulars speak their tiny truths.

The author poses questions not usually asked: What does a coin look like to AI? When AI gives you evidence that the earth is round, why are its own reasons for saying that so different? Why does an AI image generator create a “selfie” of ancient Aztec warriors with broad smiles that it “believes” are historically unlikely? If AI becomes conscious but bodiless, could it still make good moral decisions? Why is the world so much better at being causal than AI could ever “understand”? How does AI show us that genuine creativity is not about a “spark” but about moments that feel right? And how can you take the temperature of a joke?

Beautiful Particulars offers a new—and hopeful—perspective on how machine learning works, and how that’s already changing how we understand what it means to be human in the age of AI…(More)”

Article by Joseph Foti: “In the prior OGP Horizons piece in this series, we looked at what governments actually mean when they talk about tech sovereignty. In the abstract, this is an ability to control technology in their borders and to be relatively autonomous when it comes to using foreign technology.

But, in practice, governments are quite diverse. As a recap, we looked at the legislation and policies being adopted by many “middle powers,” as well as the EU, the US, and China. (Readers are encouraged to skim the summary of all of the findings here.) The findings showed that interventions fell into three categories.

• Cost: Buying software and computing power and spending money to build domestic capacity.
• Exit: Preserving the ability to leave a bad relationship.
• Leverage: Controlling holdings that other jurisdictions need.

Within each of these categories, there are a number of different policies. In Part II of the series, we will go through cost, exit, and leverage. We’ll also look at why and where open government can help ensure that people are getting what they need from the policies, namely autonomy, good value, security, and jobs.

For each of the given policy areas, there is a distinct role for transparency and public oversight. In some cases, especially to those related to land and permitting as well as standards development, there is a particular role for public participation…(More)”.

Book by Catarina Zuzarte Tully: “This book is different.It is written for people who are actively trying to transform the systems around them in a time of uncertainty and change. It is written for people who are experiencing the present as a period of frustration, anxiety and retrenchment—but who also know that it is a time of extraordinary possibility to shape a positive future. It is written for people who understand that transformation is ultimately about power: speaking truth to it, challenging it and redistributing it. It is written for people who feel a sense of stewardship: a responsibility to connect people working across past, present and future in service of a more prosperous, secure and sustainable world.

Future generations are not strangers who happen to live later. They are extensions of ourselves, just as we are extensions of those who came before us. Playing with Time is rooted in this simple idea. It invites us to loosen our grip on the present, reconnect with longer-term horizons, and allow possible futures to reshape how we act today.

This moment calls for our creative, collective response. It asks us to articulate and defend the values we care about, work across difference wherever possible, and act for the wellbeing of current and future generations. These are things that all of us can do. This book shows how...(More)”.

Report by the Wellcome Trust: “The Wellcome Global Monitor is the world’s largest study of how people think and feel about science and health. The 2026 edition draws on surveys of more than 140,000 people in 140 countries, making it a uniquely rich and globally comparable data set on public trust in science. 

This is the third wave of the Wellcome Global Monitor, following surveys in 2018 and 2020. Over the course of these surveys, we saw trust rise during the pandemic, when science was more visible in people’s lives, but that rise has not been sustained. Today, trust in science is below 2018 levels globally. 

Global averages only tell part of the story. Trust levels vary widely between and within countries, and it is closely linked to people’s everyday experiences of healthcare, of public institutions and of whether they feel they are getting by. 

The full report, the dataset, country and regional factsheets and an interactive dashboard are all freely available…(More)”.

OECD Report: “Governments are under growing pressure to respond more effectively to rapid technological, economic and societal changes while maintaining stability and fiscal sustainability. A significant transformation of the functioning of governments needs to take place that can take advantage of digital and AI tools, and the opportunity of large cohorts of retiring civil servants to change the culture. Based on the analysis of cutting-edge practices in governments of OECD countries, Government Unstuck provides a coherent set of actions that will help governments be up to the challenges of today…(More)”.

Book by Gary Wolf: “Science has given us tools and methods that allow us to observe things that were once imperceptible—and this book shows what we can learn when we use them to look at ourselves.

Written by science journalist Gary Wolf, co-founder of the Quantified Self movement, this book teaches readers how to use proven scientific methods to answer their own health questions. At a time when trust in expertise is fractured and people are divided not just politically but over how to know what’s true, The Quantified Self makes the case that science belongs to everyone—and proves it by putting the method in the reader’s hands.

Wolf teaches ten reasoning patterns adapted from the history of scientific practice and illustrates them with dozens of personal narratives. Across chapters on pain, mood, cognition, sleep, digestion, heart health, and hormones, readers learn a practical method for answering the health questions that matter most to them…(More)”.

Article by Stefaan Verhulst and Andrew Zahuranec: “What would it take for Indigenous communities not simply to be represented in the emerging AI ecosystem but to shape, govern, and benefit from it?

That question is what animated our event during UNGA High-Level Week on Advancing Public Interest AI Through Data Commons for Indigenous Languages and Cultures. 

The discussion brought together Indigenous leaders and technologists, funders, researchers, international organizations, civil society, and industry around a growing challenge: As AI becomes embedded in education, public services, cultural production, and everyday life, many Indigenous communities are being drawn into AI systems that they did not design, using data they may not control, and reflecting assumptions and values that may not be their own.

The stakes are particularly high for Indigenous languages and cultural knowledge. AI could become a powerful instrument for language revitalization, education, cultural transmission, and economic opportunity. But without different approaches to data, infrastructure, governance, and investment, it could just as easily reproduce longstanding patterns of extraction while amplifying misinformation. This leads to weaker foundations of reliable information for AI and other systems that subsequently harm communities…Five themes emerged from the discussion…(More)”.

Paper by Geoff Mulgan and Alex Fischer: “Work in Progress argues that democracy has not failed as an idea, but that many of the ways we practise it remain rooted in the 19th century and have not kept pace with a rapidly changing world. Falling trust, political disengagement and declining participation point to a system that is too often failing to listen, learn and adapt.

Drawing on more than 50 examples of democratic innovation from over 25 countries, Mulgan and Fischer set out a framework for understanding democracy as an interconnected system of functions – from elections and decision-making to public services, scrutiny, knowledge and citizen participation. They explore how these functions can be strengthened, alongside the relational foundations that allow democracy to work effectively.

The paper considers the opportunities and risks presented by digital technology and AI, arguing for deliberate investment in new forms of cognitive infrastructure that can help democracies harness collective intelligence, improve decision-making and rebuild trust.

The authors’ central message is clear: democracy should be treated as a work in progress – something to be upgraded, tested and renewed, rather than a finished achievement to simply defend…(More)”.

Article by Indrabati Lahiri: “Citizen science is rising globally, driven by technology and public participation in research. Volunteers help professional scientists gather critical data across vast geographic areas and timeframes. In tourism, guests at resorts participate in coral planting, wildlife tracking, and environmental DNA collection. Crowdsourced data also tracks climate change, monitors watersheds, and supports disaster preparedness. However, challenges remain regarding data quality, reliability, structural biases, and institutional hesitation. Ultimately, combining volunteer participation with professional expertise helps address data gaps in environmental research…(More)”.

Article by Justin Gest: “Last month, the Trump administration proposed new rules that would limit who is counted in the census. It’s an initiative that is ideologically consistent with President Trump’s voter-suppression efforts, his aggressive deportation policies and his executive order that seeks to purge national parks and museums of information about slavery and Native American history that, in his words, casts our country “in a negative light.”

The Constitution requires the census to count everyone in America, but Mr. Trump clearly wants to decide who counts.

Under current practice, the Census Bureau, which is part of the Department of Commerce, looks to count everyone living here, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Census data is used for purposes ranging from congressional apportionment to government-funding formulas.

Under the administration’s proposal, the census would count only citizens and green card holders. Undocumented immigrants, international students, asylum seekers, refugees without permanent residency and others would be excluded. The administration argues that individuals in these groups lack the “sufficient tie and allegiance” required to establish them as “true inhabitants” of the United States — a rationale akin to one advanced by some critics of birthright citizenship…(More)”.