New Royal Society paper: EU should optimize AI policy for happiness to repay public AI subsidies
SandraWachter5 · x · 2026-10-26
Oxford Internet Institute scholar Sandra Wachter has published "Optimizing for happiness in EU technology policy" in a Royal Society journal, arguing that public subsidies for AI should be repaid with technology that improves people's lives.
Core argument: people are effectively shareholders of frontier AI — public money helped build it, so the public should demand concrete wellbeing gains in return. The paper explores frameworks that treat public happiness as the optimization target for EU technology and AI policy.
Related event: Oxford scholars argue EU AI subsidies should be repaid in public happiness(2 posts)→
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