Perfect. Thank you!

Of course. Last detail—do you typically want to review the story draft before it goes live?

Thank you. This has been so interesting and enlightening—and not a traditional, formulaic interview.

I’ve thought a lot about it as a queer person, especially around “straight passing”—like people assume heteronormativity by default. Queerness grants you freedom to reject that baseline assumption. But it can also be exhausting to re-explain yourself. So I’m always exploring that tension.

I love trying to ask questions people haven’t heard before. Have you ever been genuinely stumped or surprised?

That’s a lovely way to put it. Last random personal question: since you’ve done thousands of these interviews, do you have a “favorite” one, or are there qualities that make an interview especially good from your perspective?

When you look at your career so far, is there a single accomplishment you’re proudest of?

Do you feel you’re a “good ancestor,” then?

That can feel overwhelming—like infinite possibilities. Do you ever feel that overwhelm?

Has AI made you rethink your own connections or your own work?

I think those are the main questions I had. Is there anything else you want to add or emphasize?

In Seattle during the 2020 protests, there was the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” an experiment in local self-governance that lasted a bit before the city came down on it.

Besides the power of communities to curb disinformation, how else can communities advance democracy?

That’s fascinating. Does it give you hope that we can move to these new social media paradigms?

Could you talk more about “pro-social media?” Because major platforms seem to prioritize ad revenue, which can amplify extreme content.

I learned that in journalism school: open-ended questions and letting people fill in the gaps. But sometimes you do have to steer a conversation toward certain themes.

It reminds me of how “networking” can feel transactional. I tell people to think of it instead as relationship-building—bring curiosity, genuinely learn about others. That’s more fulfilling.

Any advice for organizations that want to celebrate differences in ways that actually benefit the community and not just check a diversity box?

It reminds me of “queering” an institution, like going beyond the default assumptions. But sometimes people equate “non-binary thinking” with “I don’t see color” or ignoring differences. How do you respond?

We’ve talked about Taoism. Are there other aspects of your identity that inform your work?

“Copyleft”? That’s a fun term.

That sounds quite liberating. I often tell people who want to write that they should just write and share it. But they’re afraid to publish. Do you find it freeing to just let your works exist in the world?

How does that look for you today? Sometimes mindfulness can seem at odds with the pressure to be super-productive.

Could you say more about how Taoism became central in your life?

It’s interesting because here, especially in tech, “spirituality” can sound antithetical to “logic,” or at least some people see them as opposites. Meanwhile, you’re describing how your Taoist perspective literally informs your approach to innovation.

I want to believe technology can help democracy in the U.S., too, but it feels like democracy is eroding in recent years, and that big tech is fueling polarization. I still trust in communities, but I’m also a bit anxious about how low we’ll sink before we rebuild.

From everything you’ve done—Apple, Socialtext, now in the public sector—it sounds like community and togetherness have always shaped your work. Is that a fair statement?

So the “open source” approach can let people verify. Is that push coming more from users or from the industry?

From my time in big tech, everything often feels proprietary rather than open. Does that pose a challenge to building these signature or identity-verification systems at scale?

As AI-generated content gets harder to distinguish from human-made content, do you worry about trust or about verifying authenticity?

What about more “gray area” cases, like auto-generated YouTube channels summarizing content? People are using AI to generate quick video summaries of books or movies. In some sense that’s helpful—maybe I just want a spoiler of a scary movie. But it also removes a bit of the human commentary or ...

What would it look like to have an AI that aligns with humanity? Sometimes it’s described as an “assistive model” rather than a “replacement.” People ask me, “Aren’t you afraid AI will replace writers?” I say no—writing is more than stringing words together. AI might help me research or rephrase ...

You’ll be speaking in Seattle soon, hosted by Seattle Arts & Lectures. Are you planning to talk about the state of AI, democracy, and so on?

You were already working in tech then, right?

Yes, in past interviews, you’ve sounded quite hopeful about community-based solutions to misinformation. Have you always been optimistic about technology-for-good, or about building community through digital innovation?

That’s really interesting. So you basically tapped into the wisdom of the crowd, using deliberative processes, to find a technology-based solution. Do you think that approach scales to larger countries with different political cultures? Or is it unique to Taiwan, which already has a culture of civic participation?

People often rely on journalism or on social media to “speak truth to power,” but when the companies controlling these platforms deprioritize fact-checking or facilitating truth, it becomes harder to find reliable information. Meanwhile, AI-generated content is getting more convincing—making it increasingly difficult to tell what’s real or who created ...

I think about how technology companies, at least in the U.S., are investing less in fact-checking, for instance. Facebook has rolled back parts of their fact-checking programs. There’s also reduced support for DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion). Many friends who do DEI speaking or training have had their funding pulled. I ...

Yes, exactly. Where do you sit with the current state of AI? I’m in the U.S., and it seems especially heightened here—maybe because of the recent election cycle. But how do you see AI and its social ramifications right now?

I’m really curious about generative AI and how quickly average people can use it—like you can use AI now to write an email or even an entire book. This changes what it means to be a writer, a storyteller, a creative person. So that’s my lens: how we use AI ...

I’m interested. Let me just start recording on my end… Recording in progress. Okay, cool. Well, for context, this is a story for JoySauce, a publication focused on Asian and Asian American stories. This particular piece will be a Q&A. I’ve been corresponding with someone from Seattle Arts & Lectures ...

That’s like when you go to a store and you’re the 10,000th customer! I’ve always wanted to be that special number. I could be the 8,000th speaker.

You mean the full transcript? I’ve never actually done that before. Let me just check with my editor. That’s something I’d need to confirm.

Thanks for taking the time to do this conversation. Is it okay if I record this just for my own reference when writing the story?