Driverless Government: Speculation, Citizenship and Collective Civic Intelligence
Jason Shun Wong · Architecture and Culture · 2019
This article examines data, algorithms and machine learning as the new materials that make cities smart. Analyzing the threat of relying on digital tools made by corporations to govern and regulate will also provide insight into possible areas in which citizens can insert their own agency. Using a speculative case study, Driverless Government, the project imagines the full potential of using digital tools in a city council meeting by mixing the political, digital and physical to create a hybridized and multimodal proposal. The speculative design provocation challenges the current American bureaucratic system by presenting tools that allow citizens to dispute an optimization-led and corporate agenda by envisioning representation in new forms. Specifically, the project imagines how citizens can create artificial intelligence representatives that advocate for themselves and other agents. By imagining, possibilities and responsibilities for the American citizenry are outlined in order to create cities that are for people.