A Co-Created Manifesto for a Future with AI

The conversation about AI has been hijacked by extremes. On one side, techno-optimists promise AI will solve everything—adopt it fast or be left behind. On the other, critics warn that any engagement with AI is fundamentally dangerous and unethical.

This binary thinking is paralyzing as much as it is simplistic. It forces individuals, organizations, and communities into camps that don't reflect the nuanced reality most of us experience. We're left choosing between uncritical adoption and total rejection, when what we need is more thoughtful.

There is another way.

AI doesn't have to amplify only the powerful. While centralized processing of massive models concentrates resources in the hands of a few tech giants, specialized models running on personal devices can open access. Instead of monolithic systems that flatten human diversity, we can build AI that reflects and celebrates different cultures, languages, and ways of thinking.

This isn't utopian dreaming—it's already happening. Researchers and developers are creating efficient language models that run on smartphones. Communities are creating AI tools that enhance cultures and preserve languages. Organizations are building systems that enhance human creativity rather than replace it.

But these efforts are scattered. What's missing is a shared vision that brings together technologists, ethicists, artists, educators, and communities to articulate what we actually want from AI.

Co-Creating Our Collective Vision

That's why we're dedicating an evening at the Artificiality Summit to collectively writing a manifesto for the future of AI. Not a document imposed from above, but one that emerges from genuine collaboration across our diverse community.

We're partnering with Jenna Fizel, Managing Director and Global Head of Emerging Technology at IDEO, to design a process where every Summit participant contributes to shaping our shared principles. Building on IDEO's successful experiments with AI-mediated collaboration, we'll combine small group discussions, real-time synthesis, and AI assistance to demonstrate how technology can serve democratic participation.

The AI won't write our manifesto for us—it will do something more interesting. It will help us hear each other across the room, synthesize diverse viewpoints in real time, and yes, occasionally misinterpret our ideas in ways that spark unexpected conversations. Rather than producing perfect output, it will serve as what IDEO calls a "humble mediator"—surfacing patterns, highlighting tensions, and sometimes getting things wonderfully wrong in ways that bring us together to course-correct.

Think of it as a sophisticated listening tool that amplifies collective intelligence while staying transparent about its limitations. When the AI inevitably misreads something, we'll use that moment to clarify what we actually mean. The result will be a demonstration of how humans and AI can collaborate without the AI pretending to be infallible.

Over the years we've been involved in scores of similar exercises but never with an LLM involved to this degree so we're curious and excited to experience both the limitations and the strengths.

Beyond the Summit

This manifesto won't end when the Summit does. We're designing it as a spark for a broader effort—one that can evolve as more voices join the conversation.

Join us in creating something that doesn't yet exist: a genuinely democratic vision for AI's role in human flourishing. Learn more about the Summit and purchase your ticket here.