AUDREY TANG: Can we wrangle AI off the techno-fascists (and make it a force for good)?

16 snips

Apr 21, 2026

Audrey Tang, civic hacker and Taiwan’s cyber ambassador-at-large who helped co-create large-scale democratic tech, discusses wrangling AI away from techno‑feudal control. She talks about composting extractive tools into community‑empowering tech. Short, vivid examples include Taiwan’s civic tech wins, scaling local models for privacy and energy, and building better alternatives that make extractive systems obsolete.

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ANECDOTE

Publish Before You Perish To Spark Collaboration

Audrey published daily notes from childhood to ensure her ideas survived uncertain health and to invite collaboration.
She used cassette tapes, floppy disks and early internet posts to document and attract corrections and friends.

INSIGHT

Flip Virality To Reward Overlap Not Outrage

AI platforms can be rewired to reward overlap instead of outrage, reducing polarization.
Taiwan ran mass table-of-10 deliberations and laws (e.g., joint liability for fake ads) that cut fake ads by over 95%.

ANECDOTE

Polis Crowdsourced Laws That Stuck

Polis crowdsourced policy debates and produced uncommon-ground solutions adopted as law.
Examples: Taiwan resolved the Sunflower trade issues and regulated Uber after three-week Polis deliberations that produced consensus compromises.

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Audrey Tang (“civic hacker", Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador-at-Large, polymath) is one of the world’s most influential thinkers and she has a vision for pro-social AI that is exciting leaders around the world.

Audrey became Taiwan’s former 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 8-year tenure, she engaged almost half the country in co-creating democratic policies through technology. The upshot? Trust in the government went from 9% to a peak of 91% during the pandemic.

I’ve 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 technofascist 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?

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

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.

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