Accelerating AI Ethics

In this episode Dr Caroline Green from Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI speaks to Professor Alondra Nelson about the social foundations of AI governance and thick alignment, a broader approach to aligning artificial intelligence with human values. Professor Nelson reflects on her interdisciplinary career bridging science, social research, and policy, including her role in developing the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. She discusses how public engagement, trust, and clear communication are essential for ensuring that AI systems serve society rather than deepen existing inequalities.Together, they explore the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in AI ethics and governance, highlighting the risks of deploying powerful technologies without meaningful public dialogue. The conversation examines emerging challenges such as emotional relationships with AI chatbots, the role of governments and companies in shaping responsible innovation, and how inclusive policymaking can help align AI development with democratic values and the public good.

In this episode of Accelerating AI Ethics from Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI, Dr Caroline Green speaks with Professor Ignacio Cofone, Professor of AI Law and Regulation, about his book The Privacy Fallacy: Harm and Power in the Information Economy.They discuss why today’s consent-based privacy laws are ill-suited to an AI-driven data economy, how data harms are often relational rather than individual, and why focusing on data use - rather than data collection - is key to preventing exploitation while enabling innovation. The conversation also explores power dynamics in the tech ecosystem, harm liability, and what meaningful reform of data protection law could look like in the age of AI.

Episode SummaryIn this episode, Dr. Caroline Green is joined by Ambassador Audrey Tang to introduce the “6-Pack of Care” framework—a practical architecture for embedding civic care into AI governance. Moving beyond abstract debates about AI futures, Tang and Green explore how attentiveness, responsibility, competence, responsiveness, solidarity, and symbiosis can form the foundation for AI systems that strengthen human relationships rather than undermine them. From real-world applications in social care to global policy discussions, this conversation offers hopeful, actionable pathways for creating technology that supports pluralism, community, and relational health.Guest Bio – Ambassador Audrey TangAmbassador Audrey Tang is a Fellow of the Institute for Ethics in AI's Accelerator Programme, and is a Taiwanese digital minister, civic hacker, and global advocate for digital democracy. As Taiwan’s former Minister of Digital Affairs, Tang pioneered radical transparency, open government, and participatory digital tools that brought citizens directly into policy-making. Known for their leadership in building pluralistic, collaborative frameworks for technology governance, Tang continues to advise international bodies, research institutes, and civic groups on AI ethics, digital rights, and democraticinnovation. Their work bridges philosophy, policy, and engineering, focusing on how technology can nurture civic participation and collective flourishing.Topics CoveredMoving from the vision of plurality to the architecture of civic careDefining civic care as designing AI around relational health and community needsThe 6-Pack of Care framework:Attentiveness – noticing needs before optimising outcomes Responsibility – public pledges, accountability, and alignment assembliesCompetence – delivering support that strengthens, not weakens, human relationshipsResponsiveness – designing adaptable systems that empower those closest to harmsSolidarity – building infrastructures of cooperation, interoperability, and portabilitySymbiosis – bounded, community-rooted AI (the kami metaphor) instead of singularityApplications of civic care in social care systems and family caregivingThe role of AI in co-production and amplifying unheard voices in policymakingTang’s reflections on telepresence, co-presence, and re-presence in diplomacy and civic lifePractical tools such as alignment assemblies, sense-making, and WEVAL.orgWhy plurality, solidarity, and symbiosis must guide AI policy and global governanceResources and LinksThe 6-Pack of Care microsite – https://6pack.careAccelerator Fellowship Programme – Institute for Ethics in AI, University of OxfordWEVAL Wiki Evaluation Platform) – https://weval.orgDedicate (AI care assistant for family caregivers) – https://dedicate.lifeCollective Intelligence Project – https://collective-intelligence-project.org

Episode summaryWhat if AI could strengthen democracy instead of destabilising it? In this opening episode, Ambassador Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s first Digital Minister and a Fellow of the Accelerator Fellowship Programme at the Institute for Ethics in AI, University of Oxford, shares a bold and hopeful vision of digital innovation shaped by the values of openness, accountability, and civic empowerment. In conversation with Dr Caroline Green, Tang reflects on her own journey from civic hacker to government minister, the role of “radical transparency” in building trust, and how plurality can serve as a design principle for both technology and democracy.Ambassador Audrey TangFellow of the Accelerator Fellowship Programme at the Institute for Ethics in AI, University of Oxford. Digital Minister (Taiwan, 2016–2024), Civic Technologist, and 2024–25 Fellow at Oxford’s AI Ethics Accelerator. Ambassador Tang is internationally recognised for pioneering work in open government, participatory democracy, and civic technology, including the development of the vTaiwan platform and the global project Plurality.Topics coveredWhat “plurality” means in a technological contextUsing AI to support collective intelligence, not replace itThe practice of radical transparency in digital governanceHow pro-social media and open-source approaches build trustReflections on moving from civic activism into public officeNew directions for her Fellowship project at OxfordResources and linksShort film: Good Enough AncestorsAmbassador Tang's projectAmbassador Tang_AFP Fellow