Jan Bunge is a partner at Squint/Opera, a creative consultancy blending digital media with physical reality, and an executive advisor for the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia's Master's in AI for Architecture and the Built Environment. Previously a landscape architect, he is now focused on supporting initiatives that have the potential to guide us toward achieving a 100% regenerative human presence on Earth while nurturing all forms of life.
Which three books would you recommend?
Everyday Adventures with Unruly DataMelanie Feinberg
As we contribute to AI's training datasets, everyone should read this book because it reveals a crucial truth: all data is inherently political and shaped by bias. This book helps readers recognize that the way we categorize, collect, and interpret information is always influenced by the context we operate in and is never neutral. As we build AI systems, understanding this is essential—our intent and perspective directly influence the outcomes AI produces and therefore impact both us and society. Now is the time to discuss and agree on what we aim to achieve and define our collective goals. By clarifying our goals, we can double-check and course-correct the outputs of our AI systems.
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal M. Mitchell Waldrop
This book chronicles the story of J.C.R. Licklider, whose visionary ideas laid the groundwork for personal computing and the internet. Licklider envisioned computers as more than mere calculating machines – he saw them as “intimate devices” that could augment human capabilities, serving as a medium of expression and freeing people from mind-numbing drudgery so they could use their full creative powers. Under his leadership at ARPA (the Advanced Research Projects Agency), Licklider helped channel government support into pioneering concepts like time-sharing and interactive computing, setting the stage for the PC and networked world we know today.
This book reminds us that computers were designed not just as tools, but as amplifiers of human thought. By revisiting Licklider’s original vision of human-computer “symbiosis,” we can rethink how we build and govern technology to ensure it remains a force for empowerment rather than control. In an era when digital platforms influence every aspect of life, remembering that humane, user-centred foundation can guide us toward technologies that amplify human potential instead of restraining it. The biggest breakthroughs in computing and AI - from the internet and GPS to touchscreens and voice assistants - originated from publicly funded research, not private capital. Government institutions like DARPA, DoD, and CERN took the early risks, funding high-risk, foundational innovations that later powered the iPod, iPhone, and beyond. Venture capital enters only after technologies are de-risked - extracting value from taxpayer-funded discoveries. Understanding this history is crucial: if public investment drives innovation, then its benefits should serve the public, not just private profits. Future tech policy must ensure equitable returns, keeping technology a tool for empowerment, not control.
Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
Platformland by Richard Pope
Seeing Like a State and Platformland reveal the dangers of centralised planning - whether in physical governance or digital public services. Scott critiques how states impose rigid, top-down models that ignore local realities, while Pope warns that platform-based governance risks reducing citizens to data points, prioritising efficiency over democracy. Together, these books highlight the tension between control and adaptability, urging us to design systems that empower people rather than abstract them. Essential reading for anyone shaping the future of governance and technology.
These books examine the tension between efficiency and adaptability, centralisation and decentralisation, abstraction and lived experience. Scott reminds us that top-down interventions - whether in urban planning or economic reforms - often fail when they ignore local knowledge. Pope extends this critique to the digital age, showing how platform-based governance, if not carefully designed, risks reducing citizens to data points and reinforcing systemic biases.
What is your favourite bookstore or library?
T-site Daikanyama - a beautiful bookstore in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.