About Divya Siddarth

Biography and Background

Divya Siddarth is a political economist, social technologist, and self-described 'sunset epicure' dedicated to enabling collective intelligence for collective flourishing.[4][16] She serves as co-founder and Executive Director of the Collective Intelligence Project (CIP), an experimental research organization exploring AI's role in consultative democratic governance.[8][16] Previously affiliated with Microsoft, RadicalxChange Foundation, and the Ostrom Workshop, her career bridges tech, economics, and governance.[2][3][16]

Collective Intelligence and AI

Siddarth's core vision centers on 'collective intelligence'—harnessing AI to amplify communal decision-making rather than individual cognition.[9][11][20] At CIP, she leads initiatives like Alignment Assemblies, enabling global public input on AI development to democratize control and mitigate risks.[18][17] She argues for incorporating collective intelligence into AI evaluations and systems, reframing knowledge as social and relational.[9][20]

Democratizing Technology and AI

Siddarth pushes for decentralizing AI to prevent monopolies, proposing 'network societies' over 'network states' and 'shared code' models for AI companies.[7][12][13] In her TED Talk, she asserts that AI and democracy can mutually reinforce each other, avoiding freedom sacrifices for progress.[5][6] She critiques centralized tech, advocating democratized tools for public voice in AI governance.[1][2][15]

Democratic Governance and the Pluriverse

She envisions 'Pluriverse' governance—digitally-empowered, consultative systems drawing from movements like Taiwan's vTaiwan.[3][10] Collaborations with Audrey Tang and Glen Weyl explore AI for network societies and rethinking checks-and-balances in the AI age.[1][10][11][14] Siddarth calls for maturing democracy through collective intelligence to fix tech's flaws.[2][11]

Key Contributions and Recognition

Notable works include TED Talks on AI-democracy synergy,[5][6][8] podcasts on decentralizing AI,[7][9][10] and CIP blogs on alignment and evals.[11][12][13][18][20] Recognized in TIME100 AI 2024 with Saffron Huang for influential AI work.[21] Her projects span ethics colloquia,[1] iWORD talks,[11] and global input initiatives.[17][19]