Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Yoshua Bengio.

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As AI rapidly advances towards human-level capabilities, the debate over its regulation intensifies. Some argue that regulation is futile and open-source AGI will drive progress, but these perspectives overlook critical risks. Unchecked market forces and geopolitical competition could lead to catastrophic outcomes, but we still have the power to shape a safer future.

In this dialogue, we revisit the potentially catastrophic risks of superhuman AI systems and explore multifaceted approaches to contain, manage, and mitigate these risks. Our discussion extends to regulation and legislation, examining necessary protective laws and their global implementation status. We also address the critical need for effective governance and oversight, exploring potential global architectures to manage AI development.

Ignoring AI risks is not akin to Pascal's wager; the probabilities of severe consequences are real and substantial. We explore how effective regulation, drawing on flexible, principle-based legislation, can balance innovation with safety. Additionally, we examine the double-edged nature of open-source AI: historically beneficial, yet posing significant misuse risks as capabilities grow.

Joining us is Yoshua Bengio, Full Professor at the University of Montreal, Founder and Scientific Director of Mila, and recipient of the 2018 A.M. Turing Award. A pioneering figure in AI and deep learning, Yoshua brings crucial insights to this dialogue on developing comprehensive policies for safe AGI.

For more information about Yoshua Bengio, visit our contributors’ page. To never miss a Reboot Dialogue, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our newsletter.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with John Davenport.

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Studies show that identity fraud cost $52 billion globally in 2021, with ransomware costs potentially reaching an astonishing $265 billion annually by 2031. In this episode of Reboot2030, we examine AI's impact on cybersecurity, focusing on its potential to revolutionise cybercrime through sophisticated attacks and misinformation campaigns targeting individuals, businesses, and democratic institutions alike. We'll explore some of the social and economic risks and associated costs of AI-enabled cybercrime on individuals, societies, and markets, and discuss government and institutional responses, including the need for effective multi-lateral cyber-deterrence strategies.

Joining us for this dialogue is John Davenport, a philosophy professor at Fordham University specialising in moral and political philosophy, including democratic theory, human rights, and global governance. A prominent thinker, he has written extensively on contemporary threats to democracy and is the author of The Democracy Amendments (Anthem, 2023) and A League of Democracies (Routledge, 2018).

For more information about John Davenport, visit our contributors’ page. To never miss a Reboot Dialogue, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our newsletter.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Pawel Ngei

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In an era of multiple global crises – from the climate emergency, to rising populism and the existential threats posed by rapid developments in AI – positive visions of a sustainable and regenerative future are urgently needed.

This episode of Reboot2030 explores solarpunk, an emergent movement gaining traction for its life-affirming outlook. We unpack its potential for revitalising democracy and social movements, examine how solarpunks propose balancing technological advancement with sustainability, and explore ways of democratising big tech in an age of techno-feudalism to enable the emergence of alternative social structures.

Joining us is Pawel Ngei, a hacker and solarpunk researcher focusing on narratives of technology in culture, especially climate futurism. He works with Global Innovation Gathering, collaborating with inventors and educators from the Global South to discover new, community-based perspectives on tech and culture. Pawel blogs at alxd.org and co-writes the Solarpunk Prompts podcast. To never miss a Reboot Dialogue, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Jean-Désiré Kouassi.

Digitalisation is a key driver of both economic and social development, not only in the industrialised world, but increasingly also in developing countries – with all the downsides and risks this implies.

In this Reboot Dialogue, Jean-Désiré Kouassi tells us about how Be Digit Wise advocates against online propaganda and fake news; and how they equip young people with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively utilize digital media and safely navigate the internet.

Jean-Désiré founded Be Digit Wise in 2020 and has since trained over 1,500 young leaders in digital literacy and skills. More information about him and his award-winning work is available at https://www.democracyschool.com/contributors. To never miss a Reboot Dialogue, subscribe to our newsletter at https://reboot2030.substack.com.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Akufuna Muyunda.

In Zambia, climate change sparks severe repercussions: crop failures afflict six million families; dwindling rainfall deepens water scarcity, impacting rural life; diseases like malaria surge, straining health systems; smallholder farmers suffer livelihood losses, prompting diversification efforts; and rampant deforestation worsens environmental degradation, heightening climate risks. These interconnected challenges demand immediate action, highlighting the urgent need for global cooperation in addressing climate change's disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities in Africa and beyond.

Our guest today to talk about the impact of climate change in Zambia is Akufuna Muyunda. He is an award-winning climate leader and social entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in environmental advocacy. He is also the founder of Young Volunteers for Environment Zambia and serves as volunteer Director of Green Investments at the Farmers Development Cooperative Union.

More information about Akufuna Muyunda and his work is available via our contributors' page. To never miss a Reboot Dialogue, subscribe to our newsletter.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Susanna Cafaro

Europe over the past ten years has seen a tectonic shift to the right, both at the level of member states, and at the European level. But what exactly does that mean? How will this shift affect European policy, relations between member states and indeed the European Union itself, or rather European ‘supranational’ democracy – both in the short- and in the long term?

In this podcast we explore these questions and ask how can Europe defend itself against a sustained attack from far-right populists and anti-European nationalists?

Joining us for this discussion is Susanna Cafaro, a leading European federalist and professor of European Union law at the University of Salento (Italy).

More information about Susanna Cafaro is available via our contributors’ page.

Also of interest to viewers/listeners might be the Supranational Democracy Dialogue Susanna hosts every year. More information about this gathering/conference is available here.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Roberto Castaldi

Europe is now facing multiple serious threats, internally via right-wing populists and nationalists, and externally, because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and other geopolitical conflicts and risks around the world. Global warming and migration act as fuel and further exaggerate these divisions along nationalist/populist versus liberal/federalist lines, with the populist camp increasingly gaining the upper hand not only within European member states, but at a European level as well.

In this podcast we ask: should we be concerned? How significant are these developments, and how will they play out if current trends persist? We will also be looking at the EU’s plans for eastward expansion with regards to Ukraine and Moldovia and talk about the challenges the EU faces in rapidly establishing an integrated European defence force.

Roberto Castaldi is a European federalist. He holds a PhD in international relations in the area of European integration and is an Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at eCampus University in Italy. He is also the CEO of the International Centre for European and Global Governance, co-edits Perspectives on Federalism and is the General Editor of EURACTIV Italy.

More information about Roberto Castaldi is available via our contributors’ page.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Chris Hamer

Chris Hamer has long been active as a democracy activist on the global stage and is one of the co-founders and the current President of the Coalition for a World Security Community of Democratic Nations. In this dialogue he is making the case for a multi-national Alliance of Democracies at a time of global crisis to mitigate against the real and growing risk of a third world war.

Chris is also a honorary Associate Professor in the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales, the President of Scientists for Global Responsibility (formerly Scientists Against Nuclear Arms), and the founder of the World Citizens Association of Australia.

More information about Chris Hammer is available via democracyschool.com/reboot-contributors.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Yoshua Bengio.

What if artificial intelligence (AI) continues to progress towards and beyond our abilities, in areas where it could become dangerous, and what if our regulations won’t be 100% foolproof, opening the door to seriously harmful misuse by bad actors, historically never seen concentrations of power and existential threats to our collective future? Even if these were a low-probability events, given the high stakes, should we not have a plan B?

With a view to minimising those risks, Yoshua Bengio proposes the creation of a multilateral network of non-profit and non-governmental labs, collaborating on the defence of democracy, human rights and against eventual rogue autonomous AI. His proposal hinges on avoiding a single point of failure and excessive concentrations of power (economic, political and military), and establishing strong democratically mandated international governance mechanisms.

In this Reboot Dialogue we talk, both about the various ways in which AIs potentially pose an existential threat to democracy and human rights, and what it would take, what kind of governance architecture we would need to put into place, to protect us against AI-driven catastrophic risks.

Yoshua Bengio is professor of computer science at the Université de Montréal, founder and scientific director of Mila–Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, and senior fellow and codirector of the Learning in Machines and Brains program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He won the 2018 A.M. Turing Award (with Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun).

More information about Yoshua Bengio is available via democracyschool.com/reboot-contributors. His paper on AI and catastrophic risk is now out at journalofdemocracy.org/ai-and-catastrophic-risk.

Note to listeners: Unfortunately, this dialogue was disrupted (cut short), as we lost our internet connection temporarily during the live stream - hence the edit/cuts. Since Yoshua had scheduled a follow-on interview with The Guardian newspaper, we had to finish earlier then planned and hence were not able to cover everything we wanted to. We apologise for this disruption and the abrupt ending, and promise to continue this conversation next year (2024) with a follow-up dialogue, focusing on Yoshua’s proposal for a globally distributed AI governance architecture.

Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Robert C. Hinkley.

More than 20 years ago, Bob Hinkley proposed a Code for Corporate Citizenship that would amend the existing duty of directors “to act in the best interests of the corporation” by adding the following words...

“but not at the expense of severe damage to the environment, human rights, public health and safety, dignity of employees or the welfare of the communities in which the corporation operates.”

In this Reboot Dialogue we focus on the role the law plays in both enabling and legitimising corporations to cause severe harm to the environment – and how the proposed Code for Corporate Citizenship would put an end to that.

Bob Hinkley is an American attorney, who specializes in corporate law generally and corporate financing specifically. From 2012 to 2020, he provided critical assistance to the US Department of Justice in connection with investigations that recovered more than $US 65 billion from more than a dozen banks for illegal behaviour that led to the financial crisis of 2008.

For more information about Bob Hinkley, please visit democracyschool.com/reboot-contributors. This Reboot Dialogue is presented by Nico Andreas Heller.