Artificial Intelligence & Technology
How do you govern AI without strangling it, and who captures the gains when it takes the jobs? The newest subject meets the oldest minds: Friedrich Hayek, Hannah Arendt, Elinor Ostrom and Lee Kuan Yew. They are anything but settled. Read on to see why.
- Debates
- 21
- Council voices
- 28
- Last debated
- 22 June 2026
The council in action
What would they do about AI and technology?
Each thinker’s concrete moves, drawn straight from their debates.
LK
Lee Kuan Yew
Explore Yew →- Create temporary work permits with mandatory Dutch language requirements and clear integration standards.An aging country needs migrants but does not want them. How do you solve that?
- Establish skills-based selection criteria targeting specific labor shortages while maintaining social cohesion through housing policy.An aging country needs migrants but does not want them. How do you solve that?
HS
Helmut Schmidt
Explore Schmidt →- Establish national AI development programs to reduce dependence on private American and Chinese firms.Should AI be regulated?
- Create regulatory frameworks for AI systems before capabilities mature beyond democratic control.Should AI be regulated?
- Diversify AI partnerships across multiple non-US, non-Chinese providers to avoid single-source dependency.How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?
FH
Friedrich Hayek
Explore Hayek →- Strip EU AI Act compliance requirements that disproportionately burden European startups relative to American hyperscalers.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Preserve decentralised price signals by blocking any algorithmic management system that substitutes for market discovery.Can capitalism survive an AI-driven economy?
- Fund a negative income tax through AI revenues while prohibiting planning mandates on firms using AI.Can capitalism survive an AI-driven economy?
EO
Elinor Ostrom
Explore Ostrom →- Establish graduated sanctions for member states that free-ride on shared European compute investments while maintaining bilateral US hyperscaler deals.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Build shared data infrastructure and common compute pools using the same design principles that sustained durable common-pool institutions in fisheries and alpine meadows.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
DX
Deng Xiaoping
Explore Xiaoping →- Designate specific European AI development zones with asymmetric procurement rules, sheltering frontier model capacity from full competition until it reaches scale.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Install European public institutions as anchor customers for domestic AI providers before exposing those providers to open market competition.How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Implement selective migration policies immediately despite electoral resistance to prevent economic collapse by 2030.An aging country needs migrants but does not want them. How do you solve that?
Browse by topic
Recurring dilemmas
Regulating AI
13 debatesCan we govern AI without strangling the innovation that drives it?
- Should the US create a sovereign wealth fund from tech and AI company profits?
- How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Can capitalism survive an AI-driven economy?
- Should AI be regulated?
- How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?
- If AI takes the jobs, who’s left to buy? What stops the collapse and who must act?
Sovereignty & datacenters
8 debatesWho should own the compute and capabilities that power AI?
- Should the US create a sovereign wealth fund from tech and AI company profits?
- How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?
- Should AI be regulated?
- How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?
- May a country ban social media platforms?
- Should countries aim to build and control their own AI datacenters?
Platforms & social media
5 debatesHow far should the state reach into social media and online life?
- Should Australia ban social media for under-16s?
- An aging country needs migrants but does not want them. How do you solve that?
- May a country ban social media platforms?
- Should democratic states rethink their democratic processes in the light of fake news shared via social media?
- Should social media be regulated in the EU?
AI & work
3 debatesAs AI takes on human work, who captures the gains?
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