Live event: Regenerating civics: Urban AI, social media and post-truth
From City Road Podcast by Stories about cities and urban life
February 1, 2026 · 53 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of AI and social media on civic engagement and public discourse.
How do we regenerate civics , in an era of AI, Social Media and Post Truth? Is civil participation going through as big an upheaval as other areas of life? And what do the Brisbane Olympics have to do with a renowned board game? Originally hailed for democratising access to information, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and pervasive social media platforms are increasingly associated with a fragmentation of public discourse and distrust of ‘mainstream’ politics. In this panel, NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson, QUT's Professor Marcus Foth, Christine El-Khoury of newDemocracy Foundation and Dr Justine Humphry of the University of Sydney discuss the implications of new technologies for civic engagement and urban life. This recording from the 2025 Festival of Regenerative Urbanism was held by the Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative and chaired by Dr Luke Hespanhol. Photo: Luke Hespanhol
People in this episode
Host: Luke Hespanhol
Guests: Rose Jackson, Marcus Foth, Christine El-Khoury, Justine Humphry
Topics covered
- civic engagement
- urban life
- artificial intelligence
- social media
- public discourse
- post-truth
Keywords
- civics
- AI
- social media
- public discourse
- urbanism
- Brisbane Olympics
- democracy
- fragmentation
- trust
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: newDemocracy Foundation, University of Sydney, QUT, Henry Halloran Urban and Regional Research Initiative
Places: Brisbane
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