Computer Says Maybe Lingo Bingo at the India AI Summit w/ Meredith Whittaker, Audrey Tang, Abeba Birhane, and Usha Ramanathan
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Feb 20, 2026 
Meredith Whittaker, tech and public-interest leader who challenges open-source claims in AI; Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister focused on democratic digital governance; Usha Ramanathan, human rights lawyer who analyzes Aadhaar and development; Abeba Birhane, AI ethics researcher critiquing 'AI for good'. They riff on co-opted AI jargon, democratic risks and tools, Aadhaar’s rollout and harms, and how openness is used as political cover.
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AI Can't Replace Political Solutions
- Abeba Birhane argues that AI cannot solve systemic social problems like hunger or gender violence because they require political will and structural change.
- She warns current AI systems often encode biases and exacerbate inequality, undermining 'AI for good' claims.
Aadhaar's Rollout Lacked Scrutiny
- Usha Ramanathan recounts how Aadhaar was rolled out with little transparency, no white paper, and dismissive responses to civil society questions.
- She notes many early hypotheses about exclusion and data convergence proved correct over time.
AI Can Scale Deliberation Or Persuasion
- Audrey Tang suggests AI can help scale deliberative processes by translating and personalizing consensus conversations using language models.
- She cautions 'super persuasion' tools can be used for cohesion or manipulation depending on who wields them.