One of the guiding themes of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned was how we can build digital technologies with humans in mind. This question has informed much of Frank McCourt's work, as the Founder of @projectliberty.io and Executive Chairman of McCourt Global. 🧵
#Attention2025
In May, @evansolomon.bsky.social became Canada's first Minister of AI and Digital Innovation.
At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, Solomon joined Anna Jahn (Executive Director, the Centre) to discuss his mandate 150 days in. 🧵
#Attention2025 #cdnpoli #EvanSolomon #AI
Attention: Govern Or Be Governed offered inspiring dialogue on how democracies worldwide can better navigate this digital era. Now, we are thrilled to share these insights with you, starting with @garymarcus.bsky.social and @muradhem.bsky.social. 🧵
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
From left: Murad Hemmadi and Gary Marcus. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
When will the AI bubble burst? In the final conversation of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, @garymarcus.bsky.social (Professor Emeritus of Psychology & Neural Science, NYU) likened Sam Altman's talk of "scaling laws" to insanity, or doing the same thing and expecting AGI.
#Attention2025
Cory Doctorow. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
Writer and activist Cory Doctorow joined us at #AttentionGovernOrBeGoverned to talk about reimagining digital public infrastructure. He pointed to a silver lining of Trump's trade war: the chance for Canada to finally circumvent harmful U.S.-first policies.
#Attention2025
Taylor left us with a few sources of hope: that there are some dissenting voices within MAGA who deeply distrust the tech sector and that the cost of dissent can be lowered by increasing the supply.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
From left: Justin Hendrix and Miles Taylor. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
@milestaylor.bsky.social tried to warn us about Trump 2.0. And now, as the former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told @justinhendrix.bsky.social of @techpolicypress.bsky.social, he is paying the price.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
Professor Fen Osler Hampson. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
On day 2 of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, Professor Fen Osler Hampson (Carleton University) joined us to talk about public attitudes on digital governance.
#Attention2025
@emilybell.bsky.social explained: we used to think the markets and the first amendment would protect us in America, but Trump has made a choice around media—vertical integration and valuing loyalty to him above all.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
Maria Ressa. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
We kicked off day 2 with keynote address from Nobel Laureate and Co-founder/CEO of @rappler.bsky.social, @mariaressa.bsky.social, on the future of global digital governance.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
From left: Jim Balsillie and Taylor Owen. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
We wrapped day 1 of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned with a closing keynote from Jim Balsillie (former Chair and Co-CEO, Research in Motion) on "Un-Capturing Democracy," followed by an interview with Centre Founder @taylorowen.bsky.social 🧵
#Attention2025
In the following plenary panel, moderator @ivansigal.bsky.social (Interim Director, Free Our Feeds) spoke with Professor @ethanz.bsky.social and Mark Surman (President, @mozilla.org) about building the next generation of democratic tech. 🧵
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
Evan Solomon. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
From left: Evan Solomon and Anna Jahn. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
In an exciting keynote conversation, Executive Director at the Centre, Anna Jahn, and Minister of AI and Digital Innovation,
@evansolomon.bsky.social, discussed Canada's new approach to AI.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
Panelists agreed: innovation and regulation aren’t opposites. Accountability must be built into AI’s design. As Evan Solomon said, “adoption moves at the speed of trust.” Strong privacy laws are how we build it.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
From left: Murad Hemmadi and Yoshua Bengio. Photo by: Dzesika Devic.
@yoshuabengio.bsky.social (Founder and Scientific Advisor of @mila-quebec.bsky.social) sat down with @muradhem.bsky.social to discuss transparency in AI and how we can achieve this. #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned.
#Attention2025 #YoshuaBengio #artificialintelligence #LLMs
Yesterday, @anjakaradeglija.bsky.social interviewed @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social (EU commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection) at our conference, Attention: Govern or Be Governed.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
From left: Luther Lowe, Vass Bednar, and Marcus Bokkerink. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
What does real competition look like in the age of Big Tech? Moderator @vassb.bsky.social (Managing Director, @canadianshieldinstitute.ca) explores this question with Marcus Bokkerink and @lutherlowe.bsky.social.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025 #techmonopolies #Competition
McCourt joined host @ambermac.bsky.social for a keynote conversation about how to build a more open and equitable internet. The key takeaway: Rather than trying to control uncontrollable companies, let’s build a new model and make the old one obsolete.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
From left: Damian Collins, Sir Jeremy Wright, Alexandra Geese, and Sasha Havlicek. Photo by Dzesika Devic.
In our first plenary panel, moderator @damiancollins.bsky.social
(former UK Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy and Senior Fellow at the Centre) led a riveting discussion on the weaponization of tech governance.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
In a time of growing digital threats to democracy, how can we protect our online spaces? @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social joins us for today's keynote address: Safeguarding Europe's Information Ecosystem. 🧵
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025 #EuropeanUnion
We will be posting highlights from the panels and keynote speakers here. Follow along explore how we can navigate digital threats to democracy together.
#AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025
