Sebastian Saviano

Author and researcher on power, institutional trust, and AI governance. Developing theory of power convergence and the cumulative individual.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

That's the central argument of Legitimate Distrust.
The question is no longer:
"Why do people distrust institutions?"
The better question is:
"What have institutions done to make that distrust appear reasonable?"

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Is America having a Marie Antoinette "Let Them Eat Cake" moment?
Maybe.
But today's cake isn't cake.
It's trust.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

When people feel that sacrifice is shared unequally, accountability is applied selectively, and consequences differ depending on who you are, distrust shouldn't surprise us.
Distrust is often treated as the disease.
Sometimes it's the symptom.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Politics is about perception.
And more and more Americans perceive that there is one set of rules for ordinary people and another for those with wealth, influence, and connections.
That's a legitimacy problem, not just a messaging problem.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

At the same time, people see politically connected families pursuing billion-dollar developments, billions flowing to foreign priorities, and scandals involving powerful individuals that never seem to reach a satisfying conclusion.
Whether every criticism is fair isn't really the point.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

The slogan "regulate the humans" is becoming the consensus position in AI governance.
It's correct. It's also dangerous.
New article on why:
https://t.co/NDgS9IuNAc

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

https://t.co/dkmJ6jID6J

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Check out my latest article: AI Oversight Is Not a Governance Problem. It’s a Knowledge Problem. https://t.co/1qzDN1sdiz via @LinkedIn

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

New SSRN paper: The Agency Error in AI Governance

AI systems don’t act—they generate coherent outputs under constraint.

The problem isn’t that we regulate AI badly. It’s that we’ve misclassified what it is. That misclassification doesn’t relocate responsibility—it lets institutions deflect it.

https://t.co/DiwSGU8L7T

#AIGovernance #AILaw #LegalTheory #SSRN

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Paper 2 of a three-paper series on power convergence and the cumulative individual. 'Paper 3' extends the framework to Trump, Bukele, and Traoré at the level of sovereignty. Papers 1 and 2 on SSRN now.
https://t.co/pbiYNb8jmR

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Epstein, Assange, and Ye have almost nothing in common. Different worlds, different domains, different kinds of influence. So why do they keep producing the same kind of institutional disruption? New paper.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Existing theories of power explain one domain at a time. This paper argues that what makes these figures legible is convergence — the recursive reinforcement of multiple domains within a single actor.

[Sebastian Saviano @SebSaviano]

Legitimate Distrust is now available.

What if distrust isn’t irrational—but a response to how institutions actually behave? https://t.co/3FXZnqgyLV