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Systems of Value and other insights on intelligence, governance, and civic technology.
Systems of Value
My Substack exploring how to embed values into systems using AI. This ongoing series covers frameworks, case studies, and practical approaches to building systems that reflect human values rather than just optimizing for efficiency.
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An Alignment Chart for Those-Who-Have-Seen-the-Insanity-of-"The-System"-and-Responded-as-Best-They-Can
A fun exploration of how people respond when they encounter friction with "the system". This alignment chart maps nine archetypes across two axes: whether someone has left the system, is partially in it, or fully within it, and their response from constructive to neutral to destructive. From The Dreamer to The Saboteur, these patterns reveal how societies respond to the frictions our systems produce. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
Authoring Our Values
If we don't author our collective values, systems will do it silently. This post explores the first of four enabling challenges for values-aware systems: authorship. Who decides our values, by what right, and through which procedures? The post examines historical methods of values authorship and how AI might help us reclaim our role in defining the values that shape our systems. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
Terms of Service Evaluator
A practical demonstration of AI-powered values analysis. This post introduces a custom GPT that evaluates terms of service documents against six core values: accountability, agency, care for children, consent, pluralism, and transparency. The tool provides insights into how organisations operate behind the scenes and demonstrates the potential for building values-aware systems. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
When AI Becomes the System
Bureaucracy was built with human limits in mind. Advances in AI mean those limits could disappear. This post explores how AI can compress bureaucracy and eliminate it altogether, opening the door to new kinds of values-aware feedback loops that our existing systems were never designed to support. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
How Values Get Lost in Translation
An exploration of how values become distorted as they move through organizational systems and bureaucratic processes. This post examines the gap between stated values and the values actually embedded in system behavior and decision-making. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
Organisations as Emergent, Non-Conscious Intelligences
Examining how organizations develop their own intelligence and decision-making patterns that emerge from collective human behavior, often operating beyond conscious control. This post explores the implications for understanding and designing better organizational systems. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
Aligning Our Systems to Human Values
A framework for understanding how to embed human values into system design and decision-making processes. This post outlines practical approaches for ensuring that our technological and organizational systems reflect rather than undermine human values. Read More
Brendon Hawkins
Welcome to Systems of Value
The opening post of Systems of Value, introducing the core thesis that we need to embed human values into our systems rather than just optimizing for efficiency. This welcome post sets the stage for exploring how AI, institutions, and civic technology can be designed with values at their center. Read More
Brendon Hawkins