Plural Technology Collaboratory
Building the technological foundations for a plural society, where diverse communities can cooperate, self-govern, and thrive through advanced AI.
Overview
The Plural Technology Collaboratory is a project of the Microsoft Research Catalyst Lab. We ask an ambitious question: as foundation models reshape the world, how can free, diverse, and democratic societies flourish? We believe this deserves research at the same scale as building the models themselves.
The world is investing enormously in making AI more capable, and only a small fraction of that in the civic and institutional architecture society needs to absorb it. We work on that missing half: the sociotechnical systems that help communities keep pace with digital innovation.
Our approach was pioneered in Taiwan from 2014 to 2024 under its first Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, and articulated in Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy (opens in new tab), the first open-source, democratically governed book, endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (opens in new tab) and a bestseller in Japan (opens in new tab).
Our areas of impact
PTs have been deployed in a variety of social sectors by partners in collaboration with Microsoft Researchers.
Social media
Governance and politics
AI alignment
Our external collaborators
We are working closely with the following collaborators outside Microsoft, as well as a variety of internal groups:
