Artificial intelligence is being integrated into nearly every industry, but how is Congress using AI? As policymakers and their staff work to serve their constituents, can AI be used as a tool to modernize legislative operations, better equip staff, and strengthen our democratic processes? Congress has a unique opportunity to embrace this emerging technology, and failing to do so may leave it behind.

To discuss this, Shane is joined by Aubrey Wilson, managing director of POPVOX Foundation. She has extensive experience on Capitol Hill as a former House legislative assistant, legislative correspondent, and deputy staff director for the Committee on House Administration in the 118th Congress. She was also a member of the R Street Institute’s governance policy and federal affairs team. Her work on the Hill and in academia provides a creative foundation for discussing how Congress is using AI.

There is an invisible resource that powers our smartphones and connects our devices: spectrum airwaves. But regulations governing these airwaves were set decades ago, long before the age of smartphones and autonomous vehicles. With technology changing at a rapid pace, are these regulations for this finite resource outdated? What is the growing importance of airwave spectrum in an economy that is increasingly wireless? And what does a property-rights regime for spectrum look like in practice?

Shane is joined by Professor Thomas Hazlett, author of the best-selling book The Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone (2017) and a leading voice in telecommunications, media, and the internet. He is currently the H. H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics and director of the Information Economy Project at Clemson University. He previously served as chief economist at the Federal Communications Commission. His extensive knowledge makes for an excellent conversation.

Information technology and digital services are a rapidly changing sector operating in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. International bodies have struggled to fast-track standards for the digital services industry, and major companies have adopted their own. These trends risk creating a more fragmented world in which digital trust and safety suffer. To protect universal human rights, companies and governments need to speak the same language to identify industry best practices. The question remains: Which international bodies and frameworks are best equipped to address these challenges?

Joining Shane are two experts working on the Digital Trust and Safety Partnership, David Sullivan and Farzaneh Badiei. The Digital Trust and Safety Partnership is an industry consortium focused on delivering best practices for protecting human rights in digital services. David Sullivan is the executive director of the partnership and previously served as the co-chair of the Digital Safety Risk Assessment Framework at the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition for Digital Safety. Farzaneh Badiei is head of outreach and engagement at the partnership and is the founder of Digital Medusa, an organization that promotes sound digital governance.