Great to chat with LinkedIn co-founder and Microsoft Board Member, Reid Hoffman, at Guildhall this week.
Reid spoke about AI and the need to get the balance right between freedom and frameworks. He described the Freedom of the City of London (which dates back to the eleventh century), as a medieval human API for cooperation. The historic right to trade based on trust correlates with a modern network of exchange and agency governed by protocols.
He was optimistic about how AI could amplify human potential for greater good if we could create agency at scale. He said that “freedom without framework becomes chaos, but framework without freedom becomes bureaucracy”. He explained that the biggest challenges of AI are not technical but cultural, political and metaphysical. It is about how we define trust, consent and purpose in a connected society.
His message to UK politicians was clear – if you want to lead, you must engage with new technology, to ensure that every citizen can participate in, and benefit from, this new era of innovation.
Thanks to Bloomberg for organising the event.
