Understanding before opinion.
How do people understand AI and the infrastructure behind it, and what do they need before they're asked to form a view?
ThreadPoint's research looks at where public understanding happens, who gets access to it, and what helps it grow, starting with a Churchill Fellowship study across several countries.
Most of the digital world is out of sight.
AI is increasingly part of everyday life, but much of how it works, what shapes it and what makes it possible remains out of sight.
Behind the screen are models, data and decisions. Behind those are data centres, networks, power, cooling, water, land and people.
As AI grows, so do the questions around it. What should we trust? What should we question? What are the impacts? What is changing in our communities?
People are increasingly being asked to form views about a world they may never have had the chance to understand first.
That is the gap we’re interested in.
Understanding isn’t acceptance.
Public understanding doesn’t ask people to support technology or infrastructure. It gives them the chance to understand what is changing, how it connects to their lives and what they might want to ask.
Better understanding can lead to agreement, disagreement or something in between. The point is that the view is informed.
What we’re Asking
What chance have people had to understand AI and digital infrastructure before they’re asked for an opinion on it?
Where does that understanding happen, and who gets access to it?
When people feel they don’t understand, is information missing, or are the connections between things they already know missing?
What needs to be in place before people can take part meaningfully in decisions about technological and infrastructure change?
There won’t be one answer to every question. That’s part of why they’re worth asking.
Learning from other places.ThreadPoint Institute for Infrastructure LiteracyAs a 2026 Churchill Fellow, ThreadPoint founder Willow Williams is exploring how different countries and communities build public understanding of AI and digital infrastructure.
The research looks at what’s working, who it reaches, where understanding happens and what could be learned in the UK.
Findings will be shared as the research develops.
The ThreadPoint Institute is our home for research into public understanding of AI and digital infrastructure.
It brings together research, practice and perspectives from education, communities and industry to explore how understanding develops, where gaps exist and what better public understanding could look like.
Papers and insights.Research, articles and emerging thinking from ThreadPoint on AI, digital infrastructure and public understanding.
Articles can be found here.
Our first papers are on the way.
Better understanding starts earlier.
The decisions we make about AI and digital infrastructure will shape places, communities and everyday life.
Understanding shouldn’t begin when people are asked for an opinion.