How should policies be made with and for artificial intelligence (AI)? This was the central question explored at a recent workshop hosted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Think Tank in Munich, Germany. The event brought together experts from various disciplines committed to maximising the societal benefit of AI systems.
Prof. Willem Fourie and Dr Gray Manicom represented the Policy Innovation Lab at the workshop, participating alongside colleagues from the New Public Governance Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and affiliated academics at TUM. Their contributions included sharing the Lab’s current research and practical work at the intersection of AI and public policy.
“TUM is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading innovation universities, and we were heartened to see how many of the themes we explore at the Policy Innovation Lab resonate with their current research and public engagement priorities,” said Prof. Fourie.
Like the Policy Innovation Lab, the TUM Think Tank positions itself as a “research to action platform” by facilitating evidence-informed impact through collaboration between scholars, policymakers and technologists.
Two of TUM’s most relevant initiatives for the Lab’s work stood out during the engagements.
The Civic Machines Lab’s core proposition, that AI should be understood and governed as a socio-technical system, aligns with the Lab’s own interdisciplinary approach to AI in government. The Civic Machines Lab integrates insights from ethics, political science, sociology, and philosophy, both from Western and non-Western traditions, to understand how AI reshapes governance structures, social norms and collective agency. By explicitly moving beyond purely technical approaches to AI, the Civic Machines Lab challenges the assumption that AI governance can be solved through technical fixes alone.
The Government Innovation & Technology Initiative explores how AI can be used to reimagine and revitalise the public sector. The initiative recognises the dual challenge faced by governments: make the most of AI’s transformative potential while managing risks.
This vision resonates with the Policy Innovation Lab’s approach, particularly in its focus on the responsible experimentation with AI tools in policymaking environments marked by institutional complexity, political transition or limited capacity.
The visit underscored the value of international exchange between institutions focused on AI and governance. The Lab’s engagements at TUM helped identify concrete opportunities for future collaboration.
“We left Munich with a strong sense of shared purpose and a renewed commitment to mutual learning,” said Dr Manicom. “Engaging with teams like those at TUM helps us deepen our work while offering perspectives from the Global South.”