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EmailIt’s been a busy summer here at Aspen Digital, including various new papers released (about the state of cybersecurity in the age of AI), new Signal & Trust editions, launch of Project Q-Day, and much more. We are also excited to welcome Konstanze Frischen who will transition to the acting Executive Director.
Building on her impactful tenure as Managing Director and Deputy Executive Director alongside the indomitable Vivian Schiller, Konstanze brings a rare lens to the tech policy space. She has spent her career acting as a bridge between frontline social innovators, corporate boardrooms, and policymakers and learned that the most lasting solutions happen when these communities sit at the table alongside each other.
We sat down with Konstanze to discuss her vision for Aspen Digital, the power of breaking down silos, and the last time she used a chat LLM.
Over the next year, what are you most looking forward to for Aspen Digital?
Impossible to say, but let’s start with some of the big milestones just this year: an inaugural Summit on the future of workplace innovation, our annual Aspen Cyber Summit that seems more relevant than ever as new frontier models have unprecedented capacity to hack into our systems and data infrastructure, and a convening on the future of journalism that is crucial because as AI opens up new ways to access information, it also weakens the institutions whose reporting it depends on.
What was one of the impactful conversations you’ve had while at an Aspen convening?
There have been too many to count, but just this past week, there were two that stood out. In Austin, Texas during the AIDE Summit, I had conversations with emergency managers and tech companies about how AI can improve disaster response. I also attended a deep dive into data on social trust in the U.S. and had conversations how it’s unevenly distributed like a social good.
What is the biggest opportunity and challenge that you see technology holds for society?
Whether humanity is wise enough to harness technology’s upside and wise enough to collectively agree to regulate its downside.
When was the last time you used a Chat LLM? What for?
Trying to understand high school chemistry.
If you could automate one part of your life, what would it be?
Definitely laundry.
We know your first language is German, and you also are fluent in Spanish. What is one of your favorite words or phrases/what is a word or phrase that you wish we had in English?
Fremdschaemen, which basically describes feeling embarrassment on behalf of someone else.
Now a few rapid fire questions:
- Dream Panelist? Right now this week – Daniela Amodei
- Any German food you miss? I confess, I don’t like it, I love Middle Eastern and Peruvian and Mediterranean cuisine. But if I had to choose one, artisan black bread made from whole grains and sunflower seeds. It’s delicious.
- What’s your ideal weekend look like? A long hike, a good meal, and company of family and friends
- What’s your lock screen? A field of barley, taken at the time of harvest at my in-laws farm
- Window, middle or aisle seat? Window
- What was your first job? Running the counter at a small bakery in Costa Rica when I was 16. I lived in a village called Santiago de Puriscal.
- Top emoji? I use many but my guess would be the laughing smiley – the Aspen Digital team has great humor.