Send us Fan Mail

For years, we've talked about how artificial intelligence could make government faster, smarter, and more efficient.

But there's another side to the story.

AI isn't just helping governments. It's empowering citizens, businesses, and watchdog groups to interact with public institutions at a scale those institutions were never designed to handle.

In this episode of FUTUREPROOF., Jeremy Goldman sits down with Erica Olsen, CEO of Madison AI, a company building AI-powered tools that help cities and counties modernize everything from public records requests to policy research and administrative workflows.

The conversation begins with a surprising challenge: AI-generated public records requests are overwhelming local governments across the country, creating new tensions between transparency, compliance, and limited public resources.

But it quickly expands into something much bigger.

Together, they explore:

• Why AI is changing the balance of power between citizens and institutions.
• Whether transparency laws are prepared for an age of automation.
• How governments can use AI without sacrificing public trust.
• Why digital infrastructure may become as important as physical infrastructure.
• The difference between automating bureaucracy and improving democracy.
• What responsible AI deployment looks like in the public sector.
• Why the future of government may depend less on policy—and more on operational capacity.

As AI accelerates both sides of the equation, governments face a difficult challenge:

How do you remain transparent, accountable, and accessible when everyone suddenly has superpowers?