Institutions, innovations and ideas: Sir Geoff Mulgan on trusting government after AI
Time for TrustShow Notes
Why are companies racing to build dancing robots when human dancers are fighting harder than ever to earn a living? Why does it feel like technology is becoming rapidly more powerful, but so few people seem to actually gain anything from it?
Institutions large and small are central to all democracies, and they’re anything but simple. A great institution can protect and increase knowledge across generations, but the very thing that keeps them alive can also make them stagnant.
Sir Geoff Mulgan knows institutions better than almost anyone. He’s Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London, and from 2011 to 2019 he was Chief Executive at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. He explains why our biggest and most important institutions so often seem averse to innovation, and outlines how groups of people can be more (and sometimes less) than the sum of their parts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Time for Trust
The 24-hour news cycle and the endless scroll of social media means a single controversial headline can shatter your organisation’s credibility in seconds.
AI is unavoidable in 2026, but higher education is caught between plummeting public trust and fear of disruption. In institutions where original thought is rewarded, how do you embrace an AI driven world?
How well do you remember your uni days? Chances are, whatever picture that came to mind - the lecture theatres, campus life, the idea of a place built to protect independent thought - is a few steps removed from the more complicated reality.
The UK has followed Australia’s lead by banning social media for under-16s. In a parting move made by the Starmer government, it’s left public opinion divided.
Communication is a two-way street. Or at least, it’s meant to be. So why don’t organisations ever seem to really listen to us?