Liz Barry: Engineering Democratic Systems for the Age of AI | Intelligence at the Frontier 2026

Sat, May 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

For the first time in 100 years, the Los Angeles City Council voted to expand its size, from 15 to 25 seats. That decision came from a citizen assembly that Liz Barry helped design and run. Liz, Executive Director of Metagov, builds the infrastructure for large-scale democratic deliberation. She works across community organizing, open source software and governance theory, and has been involved in democratic reform processes from Los Angeles to Taiwan. Her provocation is simple: what determines whether technology is a net good or bad is not its functionality — it's who controls it. She argues that as AI reshapes institutions, deliberative platforms need two things that are currently in tension: proof of humanity to ensure results are legitimate, and data sovereignty so participants can engage safely. Figuring out how to hold both at once is one of the defining challenges of democratic governance in the age of AI. Speaker: Liz Barry (Metagov) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.