Tension Landscapes

ArticleTimber Stinson-SchroffMay 23, 2025

This issue explores tensions—conceptualized as the intersection of engineering trade-offs and social conflicts—as a fundamental analytical tool for understanding protocol design, using large language models as a concrete case study where technical adjustments and social policies attempt to address the same underlying problems. The piece argues that tensions create spannungsfelds (fields of tension) that are increasingly entangled across technical and social domains, illustrated through how companies and institutions respond to LLM disruption through both engineering tweaks and policy interventions.

Topics

article protocols technology

Related resources

Article

A Government Guide to Open Protocols

Public sector institutions can escape the false choice between proprietary vendor dependency and expensive in-house development by adopting open protocols, which distribute control across multiple actors and allow governments to understand, participate in, and adapt their digital infrastructure. European governments are increasingly implementing open protocols for messaging, digital ID, and cross-border services as a way to achieve digital sovereignty while reducing both software costs and geopolitical exposure.

Kelly Roegies

Article

Curate Your Own Pipeline

Stanley Chen, a science fiction author who co-wrote AI 2041 with Google China's CEO, describes his hybrid writing process where he uses LLMs as essential tools but rewrites every line they generate, believing current models are insufficient as both writers and literary judges. The interview explores his practical experience with different LLM models for fiction writing, including their strengths with language-specific features like Chinese punctuation, and his philosophy of using AI as a collaborative partner rather than a substitute for human creativity.

Amita

Article

Disentangling the State of Climate

Cory Levinson surveys the current landscape of climate protocols, tracing how carbon markets and DeFi have collided since 2023, with projects like KlimaDAO absorbing millions of carbon credits into blockchain form and Regen Network expanding into biodiversity markets. The piece examines how these protocols are attempting to create durable market mechanisms for environmental assets despite fundamental challenges in traditional carbon crediting.

Cory Levinson