AI Chatbots and the Future of Free Speech

In an era of accelerating digital technologies, the jurisprudence of free speech has been utterly transformed. Our ideas about what the right to speech amounts to, what counts as speech, and whether all forms of speech are equally protected are all in flux. The resulting inflation of free-speech law has made it impossible to hold tech companies accountable for obvious misconduct.Guest John Ehrett joins us to discuss applying a truly originalist understanding of the First Amendment to caselaw and policymaking, returning tech regulation and other policy matters to the democratic process. John Ehrett is an attorney and writer in Washington, D.C. All views are his own.This podcast discusses themes from John’s essay, co-authored with Brad Littlejohn in the Winter 2026 issue of National Affairs: “The Post-human First Amendment.”