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AI Governance for Communities

Who decides how AI works in your community? This series explores the philosophy, the money, the power, and the practical alternatives — written for the people who run communities, not the people who build AI.

All articles licensed under CC BY 4.0. Published by My Digital Sovereignty Ltd.

The Series

Article 1

What Is AI, Really?

A plain-language guide to what the technology actually does, stripped of the hype. Core concepts, how AI works in practice, and why community and not-for-profit governance faces challenges that corporate frameworks do not address.
Article 2

Governing AI in Community and Not-for-Profit Contexts

The principles that should guide responsible AI adoption — from data sovereignty and community consent to the structural differences between Big Tech AI and community-governed alternatives.
Article 3

Models of AI Governance

What governance models are actually available? From vendor-centric to enterprise to open-weight to community-sovereign — the trade-offs, the costs, and the values each model encodes.
Article 4

A Smaller Room Than You Think New

Who is actually deciding what AI becomes, and by what authority? A philosophical essay on effective altruism, concentrated philanthropic power, the sovereignty tradition as a serious alternative, and what everyday readers can do about it.

Also available in te reo Māori
Article 5

Village AI as a Situated Language Layer Revised

What happens when communities step into the role of AI co-stewards rather than AI customers? A detailed look at the Village platform — how it works, what it runs, and what sovereign community AI looks like in production.

Also available in te reo Māori

This series is published by My Digital Sovereignty Ltd and is available in its entirety on sovereign infrastructure — no US-owned platforms, no tracking, no advertising. The source articles are maintained under version control and licensed for free republication with attribution.

The series draws on Kaupapa Māori frameworks for AI governance, the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance, and the Te Mana Raraunga Māori Data Sovereignty principles alongside the Western philosophical traditions it critiques. These are treated as primary sources, not footnotes.

See also: the same core articles rewritten for nine specific audiences — Parish, Community, Family, Business, Conservation, Indigenous, Leadership, Academia, and AI Research. Each edition reframes the governance questions for the people who face them in that context.