June 10, 2025
When it comes to the systems change needed to limit the impacts of global warming, a major challenge is getting people on board. Though research shows that most people agree about the risks and severe impacts of climate change, there is disagreement on how to address the problem. In the context of increased social fragmentation and polarisation, combined with declining citizen trust in government, reaching consensus on climate policy is a barrier to meaningful climate action.
In this workshop, you will take part in a real-time simulation around pathways for decarbonisation using the online platform deliberation.io, a tool built by an Stanford/MIT research team that integrates best practices in the online deliberative space with the power of generative AI. You will be asked to offer policy considerations after interacting with a chatbot that will ask you to consider future generations.
Participants will vote on each others’ ideas, and discuss the policy they want to support. Following the simulation, there will be a debrief on the considerations and design constraints of integrating AI into deliberative spaces for policy decision-making.
The workshop builds on MIT GOV/LAB’s expertise in trust-building and digital technologies to consider: How can AI be used to support democratic deliberation and strengthen citizen engagement on climate change policy?
Can these tools be applied creatively to account for the voices of future generations, who will bear the brunt of climate impacts?
The outcomes of the workshop will be used to inform the integration of AI into civic- and gov- tech platforms for policy deliberations around future-reaching policy issues.