TED Tech

Community Notes on X started with a wild idea: Instead of tech companies deciding what's true, what if you let people fact-check each other? Keith Coleman and Jay Baxter, who helped build the crowdsourced system adding context to misleading posts, discuss how the program reduces viral misinformation — and why people across the political spectrum trust it. In conversation with TED guest curator Audrey Tang, they discuss how their "surprising agreement" algorithm could reveal the common ground that quietly exists across a polarized internet.

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From Hotmail to Yahoo! to AOL instant messenger, online chat space has transformed throughout the years. Now, there’s Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini, and more AI agents vying for your attention. In today’s episode, Sherrell shares two talks, first featuring Steve Huffman, the co-founder of Reddit, on the platform’s model for a better internet. Then a talk from internet culture writer Michael Sun on how you can recapture the joy of the early internet.

Talks featured

Reddit's model for a better internet | Steve Huffman

How to recapture the joy of the early internet | Michael Sun

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Does AI pose a threat to democracy? Law professor Lawrence Lessig dissects how this emerging technology could influence democratic institutions, warning that we’ve already passed a point (before superintelligence or AGI) that deserves a lot more attention. After the talk, Sherrell reflects on the importance of media literacy and the need to remain vigilant and engaged to defend our democracy.

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We're fast approaching a world where widespread, hyper-realistic deepfakes lead us to dismiss reality, says technologist and human rights advocate Sam Gregory. What happens to democracy when we can't trust what we see? Learn three key steps to protecting our ability to distinguish human from synthetic — and why fortifying our perception of truth is crucial to our AI-infused future.

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"Democracy is more fun and inviting when you take it into your own hands," says creator and activist Sofia Ongele. Sharing how she's using coding and social media to defend democracy, Ongele invites us to identify our own creative superpowers — whether it's community organizing, making music or telling stories — and use them to cause a ruckus and bring movements to life.

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No one truly understands AI, not even experts, says Helen Toner, an AI policy researcher and former board member of OpenAI. But that doesn't mean we can't govern it. She shows how we can make smart policies to regulate this technology even as we struggle to predict where it's headed — and why the right actions, right now, can shape the future we want. After the talk, Sherrell expands on what’s needed to ensure that AI aligns with the best interests of humanity, without stifling innovation.

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We don't have to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of technological progress, says social technologist Divya Siddarth. She shares how a group of people helped retrain one of the world's most powerful AI models on a constitution they wrote — and offers a vision of technology that aligns with the principles of democracy, rather than conflicting with them.

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When James G. Robinson's son Nadav was born with a rare heart defect, he feared the worst. What he didn't anticipate were the moments of unexpected wonder. In this profound talk, Robinson traces five years of impossible medical odds, a genetic discovery so strange it felt like fate ... and how grateful he is to have experienced it all. His story is a vivid reminder of what it means to be human — an inexplicable gift, however fleeting.

And stick around after his talk for a deep dive conversation with our guest host for the week, author and podcaster Manoush Zomorodi, into the ideas he shared on stage and beyond.

This is the last episode in a seven-part series airing this week on TED Talks Daily, where Manoush — and the seven speakers she curated for TED2026 — explore how you can live a healthier life in our high-tech era.

To hear more from Manoush, listen to TED Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts. Check out her new book, Body Electric, to learn more about the hidden health costs of the digital age.

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We have more data than any generation in history, yet reality has never felt harder to grasp. Artist Yiyun Kang is on a mission to translate the invisible crises of our time — from vanishing fresh water and collapsing ecosystems to the black box of AI — into physical experiences that people can feel. Art isn’t a luxury, she says. It’s essential to understanding and acting on our biggest problems.

And stick around after her talk for a deep dive conversation with our guest host for the week, author and podcaster Manoush Zomorodi, into the ideas she shared on stage and beyond.

This is episode six of a seven-part series airing this week on TED Talks Daily, where Manoush — and the seven speakers she curated for TED2026 — explore how you can live a healthier life in our high-tech era.

To hear more from Manoush, listen to TED Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts. Check out her new book, Body Electric, to learn more about the hidden health costs of the digital age

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if GLP-1s like Ozempic could do more than just tip the scales? Physician Dhruv Khullar traces the winding path of the "moderation molecule" — from a discovery in Gila monster saliva to a potential diabetes medication and addiction treatment — and how they could quiet the relentless noise of craving. The most surprising effects of GLP-1s may not be in the gut, but in the brain. And stick around after his talk for a deep dive conversation with our guest host for the week, author and podcaster Manoush Zomorodi, into the ideas he shared on stage and beyond.

This is episode five of a seven-part series airing this week on TED Talks Daily, where Manoush — and the seven speakers she curated for TED2026 — explore how you can live a healthier life in our high-tech era.

To hear more from Manoush, listen to TED Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts. Check out her new book, Body Electric, to learn more about the hidden health costs of the digital age.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.