A conversation with the creator of Harmonica, an open-source tool using AI to support collective sensemaking in online communities. We explore the origins of the project, its design for asynchronous dialogue, and the vision behind building democratic infrastructure without relying on venture capital.
In this interview, Alessandro Oppo talks with Valentin Chaput from Open Source Politics about the evolution of civic tech, the challenges of institutional adoption, and the role of AI in digital democracy. They discuss key open-source tools like Decidim and Polis, the importance of collaboration, and the need to adapt civic tech to modern communication trends. Valentin emphasizes that the future of digital democracy depends on meaningful participation and interoperability between platforms.
00:00 Introducing the podcast 13:21 Expectations for the podcast 19:36 Personal background 43:46 The role of information 46:17 The stability of instability 50:22 Can technology help? 58:14 The Holy Grail of democracy 1:05:50 Code is law 1:12:59 Outro