Our images of the future are largely determined by private-sector actors who sell us a vision designed to benefit their shareholders. Free Machine was built to change that.
Before the AI boom: our 2019 op-ed in the TimesThe public about how technology and technology policy impacts their lives right now — and major challenges and opportunities we'll face in the near future.
Through immersive storytelling that invites emotional and imaginative investment in what could be. Experiences designed to spark participation and agency.
The public through partnerships and connections to substantive, relevant, and innovative policy advocacy efforts that drive real change.
A live, group game in which participants join an imagined society called Tomorrowland. As neighborhood council members, they navigate trends of automation and climate change — working together to guide their society towards safety and equality.
Presented with predicaments, participants debate and vote between two policy options. The winning option is enacted, we jump forward in time, and face a new situation based on their choices.
“I've never seen anything quite like it. I loved how engaged people were in policy, the gamification of wonkiness. Fun and impactful.”
Free Machine was a non-profit organization that developed creative programs to shape a high-tech future that is equitable, abundant, and sustainable — an LA-based collective of artists, designers, urban planners, and policy wonks.
The relationship between policy and creative practice was paramount to our approach: storytelling drives culture, and culture drives policy. Our work lived at this nexus of tech, policy, and culture.
