Meeting Type:
In Person
Description:
Elinor Ostrom's theory of governing the commons, as detailed in her seminal 1990 book Governing the Commons, emphasizes how communities can successfully self-organize to manage common-pool resources (CPRs), that is, resources that are non-excludable (everyone can benefit) but subtractable (overuse or neglect by some can degrade them for all), without relying solely on top-down government intervention or privatization. Her eight design principles for sustainable CPR management include clear boundaries, locally tailored rules, participatory decision-making, community monitoring, graduated sanctions, accessible conflict resolution, recognition of self-governance rights, and nested governance structures. Ostrom's early empirical work on policing in the 1970s, which informed her broader commons framework, challenged assumptions about centralized authority by showing that smaller, decentralized systems with strong community involvement often outperform larger bureaucracies in delivering services like public safety. I hypothesize that the same could be true for AI safety. In this talk, I will discuss my new project, Clio-X, designed to leverage blockchain-based infrastructure to enable community-based governance of AI that protects archival data sovereignty, copyright and intellectual property; prevents privacy leakage; addresses bias and environmental sustainability; and enables new models of economic sustainability for cultural heritage institutions. My work envisions blockchain infrastructure as an alternative, community-based approach to AI Safety and ethical AI implementation goals that can be used to complement emerging state-based AI regulations.
Contact Email:
fmi-events@cs.ucl.ac.uk
Last Updated:
July 9, 2026, 12:38 a.m.