Podcast: The IDEMS Podcast

Continuing their discussion of The Agency Fund’s proposed technology stack for the social sector, David and Santiago explore the three frontend approaches outlined in the article: frontline worker tools, chatbots, and custom applications. Drawing on their own experience developing digital tools for social impact, they reflect on the strengths, limitations, and future potential of each…

“David and Santiago discuss The Agency Fund’s recent article on a technology stack for the social sector, exploring the backend systems that make modern AI-enabled tools possible. From LLM gateways and agent builders to data pipelines, monitoring, and experimentation, they examine the growing ecosystem of open tools that can help small organisations access capabilities once…

In the final episode of the series, David and Kate explore the power of narratives in shaping the future of AI. Inspired by Karen Hao’s *Empire of AI*, they discuss how messaging, lobbying, and financial influence have created a sense of inevitability around one particular vision of AI, while alternative approaches struggle to gain visibility.…

Continuing their exploration of alternatives to today’s dominant AI paradigm, David and Kate reflect on what the future of work could look like beyond AI empires. They discuss the role of education, apprenticeships, and human expertise in a world increasingly shaped by AI, and consider how technology might free people to focus on more creative,…

Building on their exploration of alternatives to today’s dominant AI paradigm, David and Kate discuss what a community-centred approach to AI might look like. They explore the importance of collaboration, deep interoperability, distributed ownership, and adaptability, arguing that effective AI systems should strengthen communities rather than replace them. The conversation considers how communities can retain…

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate reflect on why AI has become such an important topic within IDEMS. They discuss how years of work on community ownership, trust, interoperability, and complex social systems have shaped their thinking, and why recent advances in AI may finally make it…

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate explore the role of human expertise in building effective AI systems. They discuss the often-overlooked human work that underpins current AI, from reinforcement learning and quality assurance to research, teaching, and domain expertise. The conversation highlights how diverse forms of human…

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate explore what makes data useful, trustworthy, and meaningful. They discuss the limitations of extraction-based approaches to AI, the importance of local context and data ownership, and the challenges of building systems that can learn across diverse communities without centralising control. The…

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate explore the distinction between AI as a product and AI as a sociotechnical system. They reflect on the often-invisible infrastructure, labour, resources, and governance structures that sit behind AI technologies, and discuss why understanding these systems is essential for making informed…

Continuing their discussion on the future of AI, David and Kate explore the economic and institutional forces shaping today’s dominant AI models. They discuss the roles of investment, monopoly power, research funding, and commercial incentives in driving ever-larger AI systems, and consider how these pressures influence both technological development and public narratives around AI. The…