Mission & Vision

Our Mission

AI-tocracy is a media collective of independent journalists investigating how power, policy, and artificial intelligence shape public life. We create media that helps people make sense of complex systems—whether that’s a new AI policy, an opaque algorithm, or the quiet ways technology reinforces inequality. Our work centers transparency, accountability, and public interest.

Through reporting, educational storytelling, and coalition-building, we aim to shift the narrative around AI toward justice, equity, and community-led governance.

Our Vision

We believe technology should be shaped by the people and for the people. And we believe journalism has a key role to play in making that happen.

At AI-tocracy, we’re working toward a future where AI is transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of everyday people. Where public policy is informed by impacted communities. And where the stories we tell about technology reflect not just what’s possible, but what’s just.

What We Do

• 🎙️ Podcast: Conversations with scholars, policymakers, and technologists about the systems behind the buzzwords.
• 🎥 Educational Documentaries: Deep-dive storytelling on AI and its real-world effects across sectors like health, housing, and public benefits.
• 📱 Short-Form Media: Educational and accessible explainers and commentary designed for social platforms and classrooms.

We collaborate with organizers, researchers, and public interest institutions to bring clarity to the AI conversation—without flattening its complexity.

Why “AI-tocracy”?

We use the term AI-tocracy to describe the collective relationship between power and AI unfolding in our world right now.

The phrase originally comes from an open-access paper called “AI-tocracy,” written by Dr. Beraja, MIT; Dr. Kao, Harvard University; Dr. Yang, Harvard; and Dr. Yuchtman, London School of Economics. Their paper describes the connected cycle in which increased deployment of AI-driven technology in China is being used to quell dissent while also boosting the country's innovation capacity. They discuss how decision-making around AI and governance is becoming concentrated in the hands of a few: governments, tech companies, and elite institutions, with little public input or accountability.

To us, AI-tocracy is a useful shorthand for this growing imbalance of power worldwide. It describes a world where AI is used to govern, manage, and influence people without much democratic oversight, transparency, or shared control.

But AI-tocracy is also a question. It’s not a system we assume is inevitable, and it’s not a term we use lightly. We don’t see it as a fixed label, but as a lens for asking:

• Who gets to shape how AI works—and for whom?
• What does meaningful AI governance look like?
• How do we center public interest and human dignity in technological decision-making?

At AI-tocracy, our work is about exploring these questions. We document how AI systems intersect with power, policy, and everyday life. We tell stories that clarify what’s happening—and who it affects. And we look for models of resistance, reform, and reimagination.