Mamdani encouraged New Yorkers to resist the overwhelming feeling that AI is inevitably coming for their jobs, their kids’ minds, and their dignity and to take back control instead. His message came at a moment when the federal government is doing little to regulate AI, leaving cities to act on their own. At The People’s AI Assembly, an event hosted by the AI Now Institute, a think tank that explores the social implications of AI, Mamdani argued that the t