Episode 16: Nils Gilman on Hope, Governance, and Building the AI Future
Most people think AI governance is a debate for sci-fi fans and politicians. Historian and futurist Nils Gilman joined the Responsible AI podcast from The AI Forum to talk about why that’s a dangerous mistake. Hint: Without proper legal and ethical frameworks, AI chatbots could do more harm than good, from privacy breaches to tragic suicides. But Nils believes there’s a blueprint for smarter regulation, international cooperation, and even some hope.
In this no-nonsense, witty conversation, Nils unpacks how current laws, like California’s new chatbot regulations, are shaping responsible AI, and why the fight to keep AI from becoming siloed or weaponized is everyone’s problem. He explores the tricky gray areas of AI’s role in mental health, virtual worlds, and global governance—plus the surprising ways Silicon Valley’s “organic intellectuals” are driving the narrative.
We discuss whether and how liability and privacy laws need to evolve, the potential pitfalls of AI in social media and VR, and why thinking big—planetary big—might just be the key to avoiding tech-led chaos. If you’re tired of both doom-and-gloom and utopian hype, this episode gives you a vision of how to steer AI responsibly and keep our humanity intact.
Topics
01:31 Nils Gilman: Historian and Futurist
02:22 The Privacy Rights of AI Users
04:18 California's Companion Chatbot Law
8:44 The Intersection of Virtual Reality and AI
10:50 Governance of Technology: Who Should Lead?
13:11 Planetary Subsidiarity and Governance Models
17:35 The Role of Technocrats in Governance
19:51 The Optimism-Pessimism Divide in AI
23:11 Finding Hope in Dark Times
24:26 Is AI General Purpose Technology?
31:06 Gramsci and Organic Intellectuals in Silicon Valley
35:13 The Regulatory Landscape
37:26 Futurism and Science Fiction
40:45 Creating a Better Future Through Vision
About Nils Gilman: Nils is an historian and futurist, senior advisor to the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles, and a visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. His most recent book, coauthored with Jonathan S. Blake, is Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises.
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