BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:adamgibbons/ics METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16@ox.ogeer.org SUMMARY:Good Enough Ancestor: Software Freedom as Civic Care across Generat ions - Audrey Tang\, 2025 Right Livelihood Laureate & Taiwan’s Cyber Ambas sador DTSTAMP:20260513T161645Z DTSTART:20260522T143000Z DTEND:20260522T153000Z DESCRIPTION:In-Person or Click to Join (15:30\, Friday 22 May)\n[https://og eer.org/ox/meet/gea/]\n\nTang discusses how the Free Software movement is foundational to her theory of\ncare ethics\, democracy\, local stewardship and self-governance -- and how she and\nCaroline Green are putting this t heory into practice\, with principles for AI\nsystems at the local Institu te for Ethics in AI.\n\nTang: "What does it mean to be a good ancestor in the age of AI? Not a perfect\none — perfection forecloses correction — but one whose work future generations\ncan inspect\, modify\, repair\, and re tire with grace.\n\nThe free software movement has been practising this di scipline for forty years:\nkeep the source open\, keep the user in control \, keep exit possible. Those four\nfreedoms are exactly the civic muscles democracies need as AI systems start\nmediating public life.\n\nThis talk connects software freedom to a framework I've been developing at\nOxford w ith Caroline Green called the 6-Pack of Care [https://6pack.care]: Six\nde sign principles that translate care ethics into something institutions can \nbuild and inspect. The unit of deployment is the Kami: a bounded local s teward\,\nnot a universal governor. No central model owns it. Communities govern it\,\ncontest it\, and shut it down when its work is done.\n\nSoftw are freedom is not nostalgia for hacker culture. It is the load-bearing\ni nfrastructure of intergenerational self-government. When users can fork\, audit\,\nand migrate\, no single platform — or AI lab — gets to decide on behalf of those\nnot yet born. That is what makes a good enough ancestor." \n\n\nATTENDING\n\nOpen to anyone\, technical or not\, whether a free soft ware expert or newbie.\nJust turn up\; no registration required!\n\n\nSPEA KER BIO\n\nAudrey Tang is a civic hacker\, co-author of Plurality and the forthcoming\n"6-Pack of Care" Civic AI framework\, and an inaugural senior accelerator fellow\nat the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI.\n\nShe serv ed as Taiwan’s first Digital Minister (2016–2024) and the world’s first\nn onbinary cabinet minister. In 2025\, Tang was awarded the Right Livelihood Award\nfor “advancing the social use of digital technology to empower cit izens\, renew\ndemocracy and heal divides.”\n\nA child prodigy who practic ed Taoism to manage a congenital heart condition\,\nTang left formal schoo ling at 14 to pursue self-education. By age 19\, she was an\nentrepreneur in Silicon Valley and a leader in the free and open-source software\ncommu nities\, revitalizing the Haskell and Perl languages.\n\nTang was instrume ntal in the creation of g0v (gov-zero) and played a pivotal\nrole in the 2 014 Sunflower Movement\, facilitating digital consensus-building\nduring t he occupation of Taiwan’s legislature. As Digital Minister\, she\nimplemen ted radical transparency and “participatory democracy” platforms like\nvTa iwan and Join. Her tenure saw public trust in Taiwan’s government rise fro m\nsingle digits to over 70%\, driven by innovations such as the “Mask Map ” during\nCOVID-19 and defenses against cyber interference in the 2024 ele ctions.\n\nCurrently\, Tang advocates for “Plurality”: Collaborative techn ology that bridges\ndivides. In 2025\, she co-launched ROOST (Robust Open Online Safety Tools) in\nParis to build decentralized safety infrastructur e. She describes her philosophy\nas becoming a “good enough ancestor\,” st riving to leave future generations a\nwider canvas for democratic possibil ity.\n\n\nATTRIBUTION\n\nBio\, image\, and quotation in description courte sy of Audrey Tang\; rest by Oliver\nGeer. All dedicated to the public doma in under CC0\n[https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/]. URL:https://ox.ogeer.org/event/good-enough-ancestor-software-freedom-as-civ ic-care-across-generations-audrey-tang-2025-right-livelihood-laureate-and- taiwans-cyber-ambassador GEO:51.7548179;-1.254968 LOCATION:Weston Library Lecture Theatre - Parks Road\, Holywell\, City Cent re\, Oxford\, Oxfordshire\, England\, OX1 3BG\, United Kingdom STATUS:CONFIRMED CATEGORIES:talk,open-level X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

In-Person or Click to Join (15:30, Friday 22 May)

Tang discusses how the Free Software movement is foundational to h er theory of care ethics, democracy, local stewardship and self-governance -- and how she and Caroline Green are putting this theory into practice, with principles for AI systems at the local Institute for Ethics in AI.

Tang: "What does it mean to be a good ancestor in the age of AI? Not a perfect one — perfection forecloses correction — but one whose w ork future generations can inspect, modify, repair, and retire with grace.

The free software movement has been practising this discipline for forty years: keep the source open, keep the user in control, keep exit pos sible. Those four freedoms are exactly the civic muscles democracies need as AI systems start mediating public life.

This talk connects softwa re freedom to a framework I've been developing at Oxford with Caroline Gre en called the 6-Pack of Care< /a>: Six design principles that translate care ethics into something insti tutions can build and inspect. The unit of deployment is the Kami: a bound ed local steward, not a universal governor. No central model owns it. Comm unities govern it, contest it, and shut it down when its work is done.

Software freedom is not nostalgia for hacker culture. It is the load-be aring infrastructure of intergenerational self-government. When users can fork, audit, and migrate, no single platform — or AI lab — gets to decide on behalf of those not yet born. That is what makes a good enough ancestor ."

Attending

Open to anyone, technical or not, whether a fre e software expert or newbie.
Just turn up; no registration required!

Speaker Bio

Audrey Tang is a civic hacker, co-author of Plurality and the forthcoming "6-Pack of Care" Civic AI framewor k, and an inaugural senior accelerator fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI.

She served as Taiwan’s first Digital Minister (2016–20 24) and the world’s first nonbinary cabinet minister. In 2025, Tang was aw arded the Right Livelihood Award for “advancing the social use of digital technology to empower citizens, renew democracy and heal divides.”

A child prodigy who practiced Taoism to manage a congenital heart condition , Tang left formal schooling at 14 to pursue self-education. By age 19, sh e was an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and a leader in the free and open- source software communities, revitalizing the Haskell and Perl languages.< /p>

Tang was instrumental in the creation of g0v (gov-zero) and played a pivotal role in the 2014 Sunflower Movement, facilitating digital consens us-building during the occupation of Taiwan’s legislature. As Digital Mini ster, she implemented radical transparency and “participatory democracy” p latforms like vTaiwan and Join. Her tenure saw public trust in Taiwan’s go vernment rise from single digits to over 70%, driven by innovations such a s the “Mask Map” during COVID-19 and defenses against cyber interference i n the 2024 elections.

Currently, Tang advocates for “Plurality”: Col laborative technology that bridges divides. In 2025, she co-launched ROOST (Robust Open Online Safety Tools) in Paris to build decentralized safety infrastructure. She describes her philosophy as becoming a “good enough an cestor,” striving to leave future generations a wider canvas for democrati c possibility.

Attribution

Bio, image, and quotation in desc ription courtesy of Audrey Tang; rest by Oliver Geer. All dedicated to the public domain under CC0.

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