iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

💯 another key reason why #AIexceptionalism is so misguided and dangerous. Let’s apply the lessons we can learn from *other* domains of policy-making—about risk, about political accountability, etc—here, without engaging in magical thinking. For more on this, check out my 📚 #democratizingAI #AIpolicy

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ah, are recent public statements of tech oligarchs & their hearts of gold perhaps driven by goals that are… not linked solely to selflessly, singlehandedly saving humanity? At least no media outlets fell for it by slipping into a full blown 2 week panic/fawn response to very earnest tech bros, phew

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Wow, reading these words about #DemocratizingAI from @rcalo.bsky.social (@uwlaw.bsky.social) means the world to me—I keep learning a huge amount from the law&tech community & esp Ryan’s absolutely pathbreaking work. I am so inspired by #techlaw scholarship &want #philosophers to be in dialogue w/it!

Philosophy Professor Annette Zimmermann book Democratizing AI, political philosophy of AI, AI policy and governance, AI ethics

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I say more about why THESE are the central problems that #AIpolicy #AIgovernance & citizens more broadly need to focus on (not just doomer #xrisk scenarios) in my book Democratizing AI! bookshop.org/p/books/demo... Like & follow & comment for a free open access digital copy 🤖

bookshop.org

Democratizing AI

Democratizing AI offers a powerful rethinking of how artificial intelligence should be governed. Challenging the dominance of tech elites in shaping AI's future, Zimmermann argues that AI deployment i...

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

During my Euro sabbatical, I’ve been investing into impacting local AI policy & media. In this @deutschlandfunk.de.web.brid.gy show I (in stress-activated German!) debunk alarmist AI doom narratives. Actionable priority problems rn: #oligarchy, #marketconcentration, #regcapture, antidem #ideology.

Professor Annette Zimmermann on AI and Democratic Control, superintelligence, xrisk, AI safety, AI ethics, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

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Alvaro M. Bedoya @bedoyausa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Gavin Newsom caved to that pressure. So did Xavier Becerra. And eventually, so did Attorney General Rob Bonta, agreeing to a weak settlement that will be exceedingly difficult to enforce. People want champions who are not afraid of rich bullies. Newsom, Becerra, and Bonta did not meet that mark.

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Alvaro M. Bedoya @bedoyausa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Today, billionaires yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top. As a result, a billionaire media company closely allied with the president will soon own one of its closest rivals, including some of the nation’s critical news outlets. Saudi Arabia will co-own those outlets, too.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

So cool to see @linamkhan.bsky.social calling out #AIexceptionalism at the recent @theatlantic.com festival—a key concept in my book Democratizing AI! Throwback to my @re-publica.com talk in Berlin earlier this year on how tech oligarchs use exceptionalism to further concentrate power & wealth:

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Spent an inspiring hour with the absolutely brilliant German journalist @annewill.bsky.social discussing #AIdoom narratives circulating in SV & the media this week, their political context re #midterms & why #techoligarchs’ calls for more regulation aren’t strictly new, surprising, or all that noble

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

You know what has power? Narratives have power. The richest, most powerful, people in the world know this — they grew up reading sci fi — and have used it to their advantage. They're describing a fictional future that serves their interests, in the hopes that, in believing it, we'll make it happen.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Grateful to receive this kind praise for my book #DemocratizingAI from Brian Berkey (Penn)! Colleagues, DM me if you are teaching #polphilofAI #AIethics #ppe #sts this year & want to teach parts of this book & need a digital instructor copy. @manchesterup.bsky.social #philosophyofAI #philoftech

Democratizing AI book by Professor Annette Zimmermann

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Excellent piece @martinoneill.bsky.social! Unsurprisingly I am v much on board with your points about how important it is to pay closer attention to how participation pathways can get captured by powerful & well-organized interests in real-world politics 💯

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Thanks so much for these recs, Risto! Much appreciated. I was actually looking more for Philosophy/AI-specific tips (venues, communities, contacts etc) but this is wonderfully helpful too! Really looking fwd to exploring the Baltics.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Amazing feeling to finally unpack a physical copy of #DemocratizingAI! #publicationday Get your anti-broligarchic treatise here: www.amazon.com/Democratizin... @manchesterup.bsky.social #philosophyofAI #AIethics

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Visiting the Baltics this fall for some talks, keen to connect with the broader local #AI / #philosophyofAI / #AIethics / #AIpolicy / #democraticinnovations community. What should I make sure not to miss & who should I talk to? Recs welcome!

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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 03/08/2026

Learn from recent local wins: Communities have successfully blocked, rolled back, or constrained ALPR deployments; this 2025 retrospective walks through examples and tactics you can borrow. www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

eff.org

Local Communities Are Winning Against ALPR Surveillance—Here’s How: 2025 in Review

Across ideologically diverse communities, 2025 campaigns against automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance kept winning. From Austin, Texas to Cambridge, Massachusetts to Eugene, Oregon, succ...

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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 03/08/2026

"Flock cameras are just one part of a vast ecosystem," @lastweektonight.com's John Oliver warned his audience last night. "Check out resources like the EFF's Atlas of Surveillance, which catalogs each of the technologies used in your area." www.atlasofsurveillance.org/

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

This is awesome! “How your email found me: relentless (-ly flipping through pages), on an epic quest (of editing footnotes), heroic (-ally having my fourth cup of coffee)” 😎

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Ah well I sure hope someone would write a whole book about what a ✨politically alert✨ response might look like ☺️👀

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Been in this exact situation, except this was by a European beach and the guy in question stormed off, found the tallest possible cliff, jumped off it, came back, announced that he found the tallest cliff, then demanded that I email him “proof” so that he can (you guessed it) “do his own research” 🥰

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Excited to learn last week that colleagues are using our @neuripsconf.bsky.social position paper, in which we debunk common #myths & #misconceptions about #democratizingAI, in their undergrad teaching. We’re starting to track this so if you’re including our paper in your syllabus pls dm/email me ✨

Zimmermann, Annette et al. “Don’t Give Up on Democratizing AI for the Wrong Reasons” (NeurIPS’25) #politicalphilosophyofAI

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

AI companies are writing their own constitutions. Meanwhile, a shared vocabulary for contesting algorithmic power has been traveling across red and blue states, from legislatures to civil society. New from me in @science.org: "A Civic Grammar for AI Rights" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵

science.org

A civic grammar for AI rights

Earlier this year, the artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic, developer of the large language model Claude, published a document it calls “Claude’s Constitution,” described by the company as ...

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Happy to be interviewed in @dazeddigital.com about the feminist, anticonsumerist political & philosophical context of the ongoing cyberdeck renaissance on TikTok! Impressed with the young, politically & technologically engaged women at the forefront of this scene.

Annette Zimmermann interview in Dazed magazine 2026, feminism & AI, cyberpunk, democratizing AI, cyberdecks TikTok

Annette Zimmermann interview in Dazed magazine 2026, feminism & AI, broligarchy, cyberpunk, democratizing AI, cyberdecks TikTok

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Brett Karlan @oldjerryfodor.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

In this paper, I show that "looksmaxxing" falls prey to familiar demandingness objections, and we should instead focus our moral energies on "lookssatisficing"

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Frank Pasquale @frankpasquale.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

“While energy projects on nontribal lands can face permitting delays of three to 10 years, projects on tribal land often proceed more quickly because tribes wield sovereign authority to handle their own regulations and permitting.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...

nytimes.com

Big Tech Is Now Targeting Native American Land for Massive Data Centers

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

TODAY only: you can pre-order 🤖DEMOCRATIZING AI🤖 for 50% off if you order it through MUP's website! Stop doomscrolling Big Tech oligarchs' whacky manifestos and find out why & how to subject AI to meaningful democratic control: tiny.cc/ege6101 @manchesterup.bsky.social

Professor Annette Zimmermann, Democratizing AI book 2026, political philosophy of AI

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Let’s be nuanced about what kinds of *mechanisms* can *actually solve* all this and how this all relates to antidemocratic ideological mobilization driven largely by highly vocal tech oligarchs themselves. More here: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...

blackwells.co.uk

Democratizing AI

Democratizing AI argues that AI deployment is a political act requiring democratic control. Zimmermann offers a practical playbook for reclaiming public power f

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

From a #politicalphilosophy perspective, #concentrations of wealth & power which enable & boost multilayered forms of #capture are structural, complex real world problems that feel far more politically & epistemically urgent rn than many classic AI safety questions.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

If AC & others like AC chooses X, it still seems like (politically & epistemically) bad dynamics could unfold at a structural level despite there neither being standard reg capture nor direct industry influence 🤷🏻‍♀️ And it’s not clear X’s influence will necessarily be less objectionable than others’

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Hypothetical e.g: morally pure academic AC who has never taken a dime from industry chooses one research program over another bc they know foundation X whose alumni frequently move to industry-based policy teams ideologically prefers direction A over B. No federal funds available, only industry & X.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

complex *multilateral* and *potential* forms of concentration and capture need to factor into any plausible analytical & normative framework of what type of problem this is.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

not all ex-ac industry people are completely brainwashed by corporate motives, and not all ac/nonprofit/policy/CSO people are totally ideologically independent in a way that matters for the integrity of democratic procedures & institutions. Further, …

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Another annoying problem in this area: given recent high-profile industry hires of academics (and glossy media coverage thereof which seems to have ruffled feathers), people hyperfocus on the academia-industry influence nexus, & tend to do so in a very individualized way. Very reductive given that…

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Standard regulatory capture / revolving door problems in this space are increasingly well-understood and intuitive. Other revolving door dynamics on other spheres (academia, media, civil society, philanthropy) less so.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Throwback to my talk at an excellent @columbiauniversity.bsky.social workshop in Paris by powerhouses Jean Cohen & @katharinapistor.bsky.social! TLDR: tech oligarchic capture affects multiple spheres, not just one. As I argue in my book, we need frameworks & mechanisms to address *all* of them.

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Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

1000 evaluators given identical resumes & told candidate used AI. Only difference on resumes was candidate’s name: Emily vs James. Study found women using AI are evaluated as less competent than men who use AI...To evaluators, women’s AI use signaled inability, while men’s AI use signaled initiative

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 01/07/2026

quality research and activism aren't mutually exclusive the same way "innovation and regulation" aren't. in fact, an underlying theory of change and vision that drives research strengths the quality of your academic scholarship, not weakens it any way 2/

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The bigger threat I see re: pseudoscience & corporate #ethicswashing/ #participationwashing actually falls more into the “people who have absolutely no clue about philosophy (and zero skills in logical reasoning) try to legitimize bogus ideas by using fancy philosophy-esque words” category (9/n)

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I feel like there’s actually an impressive amount of philosophers doing important & critical & nuanced & politically engaged & empirically grounded work in this space, esp since this field turned from its originally quite individualist focus to more structural & political & economic questions (8/n)

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

With that in mind, the characterization of “most” of the subfield of #philofAI as “sensationalizing” & “churning out corporate propaganda” doesn’t sit right with me. Really, “most” of the philosophers in field basically do naive hype/delulu work? Doesn’t match my impression at all tbh. (5/n)

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

And if you want a flavor of other AI-relevant philosophical subfields beyond pol phil of AI and AI ethics, you could check out @davidchalmers.bsky.social 's book 'Reality+' for example. There's a lot more but this is a nice range of different perspectives to start with.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Both @carissaveliz.bsky.social & @coeckelbergh.bsky.social have several books that directly speak to political (not just ethical) questions in a technology context.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

@svennyholm.bsky.social has written an accessible introduction to this broad field ('This is Technology Ethics') if you want more of a textbook. If not, @shannonvallor.bsky.social's book The AI Mirror is excellent. I also like Mathias Risse's book Political Theory of the Digital Age.

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Annette Zimmermann @drzimmermann.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Ok I see. This makes me think maybe some pretty wide-ranging books (rather than more niche articles) written by philosophers would be a good place to start to answer your Q (there are MANY articles, and MANY AI ethics/phil of AI-relevant books written by non-philosophers, which I'll omit here).

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