A Call to Action
Putting AI to work for citizens — in service of democracy, engagement, and civic renewal
The Idea
Assembling this book has brought home to me the question of what I want as a citizen and how I can personally contribute. I am deeply concerned by the dysfunction in our nation's politics — from kicking the can down the road on critical issues to the polarization arising from the information doom loop of distraction, disinformation, and deception described in these letters. AI will likely only make this worse.
I was struck by the expression of "humble service" in so many of the imagined letters — from the valediction "your obedient servant" in the earliest correspondence to the notion of service to others expressed by George H.W. Bush. One does not become president without ego — but time and mortality may wear down that dysfunction toward the virtue of humility shared by Benjamin Franklin-ai.
In the early days of the Internet, many of us who worked on advancing the technology viewed it as a Technology of Freedom inspired by Ithiel de Sola Pool. It has not quite turned out that way. Governments, companies, and politicians have the resources to harness technology to serve their interests far more easily than citizens can. The SERVE model I propose here is an effort to address that imbalance: AI agents, built for us, placed in our hands as citizens. Ultimately we all want to live our lives without having to spend too much time on our government. I hope the tools we build will increase your efficiency in getting more out of your representatives.
The Framework
Like many of the letters in this book, I believe service alongside others can build bridges across people from different backgrounds and take us out of our bubbles. The AI agents we will create will help you find and engage service opportunities that work for you as individuals or families — building bonds of citizenship across peoples and communities.
Engage more effectively with your elected representatives. Do you know when they will speak or be available near your home? When is their next town hall? The agents we create here will help with scheduling and preparation, so that every interaction with your representatives counts.
Review your positions on issues and see how they match the expressed positions and actual votes of your elected representatives. The agents we create will let you hold your preferences privately on your own device — and cut through the fog of the information doom loop to show you, honestly, how well your representative is serving the priorities you care about.
We hope to make AI agents that make it easier to understand and comply with voting requirements — from registration to polling locations to ballot content — so that participation is never blocked by confusion or lack of information.
Based on your positions and your review of how an elected official is performing against your priorities — express yourself. Have the AI agent help you craft a sincere thank-you or a clear expression of disappointment, and send it to the people who represent you. Your voice matters. Let AI help it be heard.
Get Involved
I hope to bring these tools to life in the coming year. To volunteer, sponsor, keep track of, or help implement the SERVE model of AI agents — follow along and reach out. This is a civic project, and it belongs to all of us.