#rp25 speaker Casey Mock: For Sale – Human relationships

In a digital landscape flooded with AI products that feel suspiciously like solutions in search of problems, it can be easy to lose sight of a fundamental question: what are these products for, and who are they really serving?  

At re:publica 2025, Casey Mock will dissect the powerful forces driving the companion AI phenomenon and its connection to the broader AI economy. By examining the flow of venture capital and deliberate technological design choices behind these systems, his talk reveals how these products aren't built to serve genuine human needs, but exploit them. The implication is a transformation of our economy and information ecosystem with profound consequences – profiting from fundamental human needs and extracting value from our increasingly fragmented reality.

Casey Mock is a tech policy expert with 15 years of experience at the intersection of government, technology, and society. He has served two U.S. governors - one Democrat, one Republican - and worked with every level of government in the U.S. and across Europe, Asia, and Africa. During his session at re:publica 25, he will offer critical perspectives on reclaiming our ability to relate to one another – before a common reality might dissolve completely.
 

The motto of re:publica 25 is ‘Generation XYZ’. What is your message for future generations with regard to the digital society?

Casey Mock: ‘Future generations must closely guard humankind's grasp over reality, as we already are subject to intensifying technological power that shapes how we understand ourselves and our world. Technological progress is not inevitable; our task should not be to resist it but to ensure it serves human flourishing.’