With Intent

Bonus: AI and Democracy with Terry Williams-Willcock and Chelsea Pratt

Episode Summary

In this episode from ID's Shapeshift conference, we hear from two New Zealand design leaders on how intentionally designed AI can address challenges to democracy. Terry Williams-Willcock, Chief Customer Officer at RUSH Digital, and Chelsea Pratt, Design Lead & Strategist at Thoughtfull, discuss how they're making civic participation more accessible with AI.

Episode Notes

In this episode from ID's Shapeshift conference, Terry Williams-Willcock, Chief Customer Officer at RUSH Digital, and Chelsea Pratt, Design Lead & Strategist at Thoughtfull, discuss ways that intentionally designed AI can address challenges to democracy.

Key Topics

• Why "AI won't save democracy, but design might."
• The democratic crisis of trust: why people aren't disengaging from voting because they don't care, but because they don't know who or what information sources to trust.
• Designing for the margins to benefit everyone: how focusing on visually impaired voters revealed universal barriers to accessing political information and participating in democracy.
• Their work on Chime: using various AI tools to transform complex policy content into engaging, multi-perspective audio experiences.
• Why human values must drive AI design principles and move beyond commercial incentives toward transparency, accessibility, and shared truth as the foundation for democratic participation.

Additional Resources

ID’s Shapeshift Summit: Shaping Our Future with AI

ID Events