Jakob Mökander
@jakobmokander.bsky.social
460 followers 690 following 52 posts
Director of science & tech policy at the Tony Blair Institute. International research fellow at Yale Digital Ethics Center. Views my own
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jakobmokander.bsky.social
HUGE thanks to the amazing team behind this report, incl. Jo Puddick, @dralanwager.bsky.social, Naman Goel, Rhydderch, Daniel Cameron, @Benjamin Roff, and @helenmargetts.bsky.social!

6/6
jakobmokander.bsky.social
This matters. Without public support, the government will struggle to deliver on the AI action plan and its wider growth agenda

To build trust in AI, the government must ensure that AI systems are beneficial and safe, as well as center its messaging around AI on how it improves social outcomes

5/6
jakobmokander.bsky.social
🛟 38% of UK adults cite lack of trust in AI content as the main barrier to adoption

4/6
jakobmokander.bsky.social
📉 More UK adults view AI as a risk for the economy (39%) than an opportunity (20%)

3/6
jakobmokander.bsky.social
New polling by TBI and @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social show that:

👫 While 25% of UK adults use generative AI weekly, nearly half have never used it

2/6
jakobmokander.bsky.social
AI sits at the heart of Labour’s growth agenda. Yet UK adults view AI more as a risk than an opportunity. How can we build public trust to accelerate AI adoption?

New research from TBI & Ipsos👉 bit.ly/4ndnu3d

Data and key findings in 🧵 1/6
What the UK Thinks About AI: Building Public Trust to Accelerate Adoption
What the UK Thinks About AI: Building Public Trust to Accelerate Adoption
bit.ly
jakobmokander.bsky.social
I'm #hiring! The Tony Blair Institute is looking for a Senior Advisor to lead our work on AI Policy and governance

Read & apply:

linkedin.com/jobs/view/4292…

For the right candidate, this is a great opportunity to help political leaders in 40+ countries navigate the AI revolution responsibly
https://linkedin.com/jobs/view/4292…
jakobmokander.bsky.social
Policymakers should build on existing AI policies and plug gaps related to:

● Mandatory safety certification pre-deployment
● Clear liability frameworks for autonomous systems
● Investment in EAI safety research
● Economic and social transition policies

Pre-print: all feedback is welcome!

4/4
jakobmokander.bsky.social
With these 4 embodied AI risk categories in mind, we analyzed existing policies (in US, EU, and UK) and found critical gaps

While a good starting point, current frameworks for industrial robots and autonomous vehicles are insufficient to address the full range of risks EAI systems pose

3/4
jakobmokander.bsky.social
The core problem: Alongside excitement and opportunity, Embodied AI pose severe risks

EAI inherits traditional AI risks (privacy, bias, security etc) - and pose new ones, e.g. related to physical harm, mass surveillance and displacement of manual labor

We identify 4 key EAI risk categories

2/4
jakobmokander.bsky.social
🚨 NEW PAPER 🚨: Embodied AI (incl. AI-powered drones, self-driving cars and robots) is here, but policies are lagging. We analyzed the EAI risks and found significant gaps in governance

arxiv.org/pdf/2509.00117

Co-authors Jared Perlo @fbarez.bsky.social Alex Robey & @floridi.bsky.social

1\4
jakobmokander.bsky.social
Succeeding in this quest for sovereignty, security & scale requires urgent policy action:

1) Create a clean, robust energy system for the AI era

2) Reform planning systems to make it easier to build

3) Use AI growth zones to overcome market failures

4) Align incentives between UK gov departments
jakobmokander.bsky.social
Talk about sovereign AI is often unclear what it means for data, models and compute

The UK doesn’t need to build everything, but it must build enough infrastructure to deploy AI where it matters, to ensure resilience, and to anchor a domestic ecosystem that delivers for the public and the economy
jakobmokander.bsky.social
What should the UK's AI infrastructure strategy be?

A new report by the Tony Blair Institute argues that the UK needs to quickly build diverse and resilient AI infrastructure for safe and competitive deployment across the economy

bit.ly/3Uypoi0

Key findings 🧵
Sovereignty, Security, Scale: A UK Strategy for AI Infrastructure
Sovereignty, Security, Scale: A UK Strategy for AI Infrastructure
bit.ly
jakobmokander.bsky.social
Great conversation on #AI and #sustainability at @politico.eu tech summit earlier this week

Key takes:
✅ Let’s shift from apathy to action
✅ Tech is part of green solutions
✅ European leadership is needed

Read more about Tony Blair Institute’s work on climate & energy led by Lindy Fursman in 🧵
jakobmokander.bsky.social
We live in a climate paradox: awareness of the climate crisis has never been higher, yet political will and action is in decline. How do we solve this?

The Tony Blair Institute outlines a bold yet pragmatic approach - based on innovation, adaptation and international collaboration

bit.ly/4jhJZBY
The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change
The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change
bit.ly
Reposted by Jakob Mökander
knightcolumbia.org
Panel 4: Using AI to Enhance Democracy is our last panel of the day and will start at 3:40pm ET. Don't miss it.
Panelists: @hahrie.bsky.social, @lukethorburn.com, Spencer Overton, and MH Tessler.
Moderator: @jakobmokander.bsky.social.
#AIDemocraticFreedoms
Reposted by Jakob Mökander
knightcolumbia.org
This Thursday 4/10 & Friday 4/11, we're hosting our symposium "AI and Democratic Freedoms." Thrilled to have @hahrie.bsky.social, @lukethorburn.com, Spencer Overton, MH Tessler & moderator @jakobmokander.bsky.social on our fourth panel. #AIDemocraticFreedoms RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial...
jakobmokander.bsky.social
How can the UK accelerate AI adoption to boost growth and competitiveness?

Gov is preparing recs. as part of the Technology Adoption Review

Delighted to co-host this dynamic roundtable with business leaders & academic experts, chaired by Angela McLean, UK’s National Chief Scientific Advisor
jakobmokander.bsky.social
Second, at the heart of science is a quest to find patterns in nature and use those to improve the human condition. AI-driven science is science supercharging itself. This means that the normal limitations of – reproducibility, validity, ethics – will not be ‘solved’ by AI

10/11
jakobmokander.bsky.social
Two final reflections:

First, ‘AI’ should be understood broadly. Focusing narrowly on LLM-adoption would be shortsighted. Key to success is equipping scientists with the skills and resources to continuously adapt their research methods amid rapid technological change

9/11