Echoes of EuroPCom

In this episode: 🎙️ We are excited to share the newest episode of the Echoes of EuroPCom podcast, featuring Bruce Schneier, on the topic of AI and democracy, drawing on key ideas from his latest book Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizens. From polarization to declining trust, democracy is under pressure. AI can be one additional challenge, or it can be a force that could reshape the heavy machinery of governance. Bruce Schneier will dive into how AI can change how laws are written, regulations enforced, and citizens participate. Therefore, the main question of this episode will be: How can AI benefit democracy?As Bruce puts it: 💬 “In the hands of someone who wants more democracy, AI will help you get more democracy. In the hands of someone who wants less democracy, AI will help you get less democracy. Let’s responsibly use AI where it makes a difference.”  Guest:  Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, New York Times bestselling author, and Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School.  In this episode, we explore fundamental questions of power, participation, and responsibility in the age of AI. Through examples from around the world, we discuss how AI can be used to strengthen democratic processes. At the same time, we critically reflect on the growing influence of large tech monopolies and the risks this concentration of power poses for democracy 🌍. Host: Emna Chaouch | Public speaker | Podcast hostAbout the podcast:The EuroPCom podcast series on public communication is produced by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in close cooperation with the EuroPCom partners.Follow us on: https://cor.europa.eu/en/plenaries-events/echoes-europcom-2025Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode: We tend to think of storytelling as an innate and profoundly human art — a way of creating, interacting, and connecting through stories. It is a powerful and timeless skill that has continuously evolved through new tools and across various forms of expression. Today, however, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, storytelling — and our understanding of it — is undergoing perhaps its most profound transformation yet. AI is not merely another creative tool; it is a technology reshaping the very structure and essence of narrative, as well as its use across the many domains that define contemporary society. Offering seemingly limitless possibilities for creative expression and lowering barriers to imagination, these new tools are also blurring boundaries between the real and the artificial. In the public sphere, AI is transforming who can produce narratives, how they are produced, and how they influence public discourse. These developments raise urgent questions about transparency, accountability, and the need for new forms of media literacy and verification. Whether we approach this shift with enthusiasm or skepticism, one thing is clear: AI is here to stay, and its influence on how stories are told — and how they shape our collective reality — is growing rapidly. The challenge, then, is to harness AI’s vast creative potential while safeguarding transparency, trust, and authentic human creativity.  To dive deeper into this fascinating topic, we sat down with Hashem Al-Ghaili — a Berlin-based science communicator, producer, and filmmaker whose work bridges visual storytelling, science, and emerging technologies. Guest:  Hashem Al‑Ghaili is a science communicator and filmmaker with a unique and inspiring profile at the intersection of visual storytelling, science, and emerging technologies. He runs his own Facebook page “Science Nature Page” which has over 32 million followers and reaches around 400 million users per week. His videos on Facebook have garnered nearly 16 billion views. They cover a wide range of subjects: astronomy, physics, biology, medicine, nature, technology and innovation.Host: Emna Chaouch | Public speaker | Podcast hostAbout the podcast: The EuroPCom podcast series on public communication is produced by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in close cooperation with the EuroPCom partners.Follow us on: https://cor.europa.eu/en/plenaries-events/echoes-europcom-2025Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.