Talk to the City

Talk to the City (T3C) is an open-source deliberation platform that transforms large-scale public input into actionable insights. This session will demonstrate how thousands of voices—whether citizens in democratic innovation pilots, healthcare workers shaping bargaining strategies, or voters in Tokyo’s gubernatorial elections—can be synthesized into clear, collective agendas in real time. Drawing on case studies with Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Young Women’s Alliance of Australia, the project will show how digital deliberation can be applied across advocacy, policy, and peacebuilding contexts.

T3C is a great example of public interest technology because it demonstrates that AI can be harnessed for democratic ends rather than commercial or surveillance purposes. T3C preserves the nuance of individual contributions while scaling civic dialogue to levels previously unattainable, showing what it looks like when technology is designed with transparency, accountability, and community benefit at its core. Participants will leave with concrete strategies for using deliberative technology to strengthen advocacy, inform decision-making, and translate the principles of citizens’ assemblies into accessible digital formats that empower communities and decision-makers alike.

Talk to the City (T3C) is a project by Adam Schumacher, AI Objectives Institute.

About Adam Schumacher:

Adam Schumacher brings deep expertise in scaling democratic deliberation with Talk to the City (T3C), an open-source platform designed to align AI with the public interest. Adam is Program Director at the AI Objectives Institute (AOI), where he leads T3C’s global development and partnerships. With over a decade of civic-tech leadership—including directing governance programs with the U.S. Agency for International Development—he has advanced deployments with governments, civil society, and advocacy groups worldwide.