Victor Galaz is associate professor in political science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and programme director of the Beijer Institute's Governance, Technology and Complexity programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His research explores the political and governance challenges created by rapid global change, including globally networked risks, and the sustainability implications of novel technologies. Galaz’s work on societal challenges created by technological change includes governance dimensions of geo-engineering, early warning systems of epidemic outbreaks, online mis- and disinformation on environmental issues, and sustainability risks embedded in early applications of artificial intelligence.
His new book Dark Machines – How Intelligence, Digitalization and Automation is Changing our Living Planet (Routledge, 2025) explores how AI is reshaping the dynamics of the Anthropocene. Can AI be used to help economies transition away from fossil fuels, augment our capacities to adapt to a changing climate, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs that benefit both people and planet? Or will it lead to increased energy consumption, overpowering volumes of automated climate misinformation online, and the accelerated destruction of our natural world?