What if AI could strengthen democracy instead of concentrating power?

In this episode of Ethics and Innovation by Oxford+ brought to you by Equinox, host Susannah de Jager speaks with Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador and former Digital Minister, about civic AI, digital democracy and the practical alternatives to extractive big tech models. Audrey explains why data should be treated as soil, not oil, and how smaller, community-shaped models can serve families, cities and nations without forcing everyone into a single technological dependency.

The conversation moves from Taiwan’s pandemic response to deepfake fraud, social media portability, local Kami models and the 6-Pack of Care, offering a hopeful but grounded vision for AI governance. Recent reporting on Taiwan’s anti-fraud work shows why this matters now: Audrey has said Taiwan’s civic AI approach helped reduce deepfake scams by more than 94%, as reported by MIT Solve.

For policymakers, founders and citizens, this episode asks a practical question: how do we design AI systems that increase participation, transparency and trust, rather than deepening dependency, polarisation and surveillance?

(00:00) - Welcome to Oxford+
(01:13) - Audrey Tang’s Role in Taiwan and Oxford
(03:16) - Data as Soil, Not Oil
(05:14) - Replacing Rage Algorithms with Consensus
(09:10) - Community Notes and Commercial Bridge-Building
(13:00) - Singleton Models, Kami and Local AI
(17:19) - Sovereign Models and Technology Dependency
(22:29) - Building Trust Around Public Data
(27:34) - Transparency, Data Altruism and Shared Purpose
(31:16) - The 6-Pack of Care
(33:45) - Barriers to Civic AI Adoption
(36:58) - Rewilding the Web

Audrey Tang: Audrey Tang is Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador, Taiwan’s first Digital Minister from 2016 to 2024, and a Senior Accelerator Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI. Audrey is a civic hacker, open-source contributor and co-author of Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy, with work focused on digital democracy, public-interest technology, civic AI and collaborative governance. TIME named Audrey to its inaugural 100 Most Influential People in AI list in 2023, and Audrey received the 2025 Right Livelihood Award for advancing the social use of digital technology to empower citizens, renew democracy and heal divides.

Connect with Audrey on LinkedIn

Susannah de Jager: Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.

Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content

Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Equinox.

Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.