Join us for a free community seminar featuring Tony Guan, Vice Chair of Equal Rights for All PAC (ERFAPAC) and SVCA board member, as he shares how he uses OpenClaw AI to build powerful workflows and web interfaces that advance civic engagement and legislative advocacy.

Event Details

• 📅 Date: Saturday, April 4, 2026
• ⏰ Time: 6:00 PM Pacific Time (PDT)
• 💻 Format: Zoom (Free · Open to All)
• 🎤 Speaker: Tony Guan — Vice Chair, ERFAPAC · SVCA Board Member

🔗 Register here (free)

About the Speaker

Tony Guan is an SVCA board member and Silicon Valley tech company engineering manager who has long been active in community service and civil rights advocacy. Since 2016, he organized multiethnic residents in Sunnyvale and Cupertino to oppose unfair aircraft noise relocation, coordinated with local governments and the FAA, and helped establish the Santa Clara County aviation roundtable.

During the pandemic in 2020, he launched the #StrongerTogether initiative, organizing volunteers to distribute masks to the community — receiving coverage from multiple mainstream media outlets. He was also deeply involved in the campaign against Proposition 16, founded StopProp16.org, and assisted Ward Connerly in creating Equal Rights for All PAC (erfapac.com), where he serves as Vice Chair. In 2026, he is once again stepping forward to oppose ACA-7.

What You Will Learn

• Real-World OpenClaw Workflows — End-to-end automation pipelines for civic outreach
• Custom Web Interfaces — Tools that help communities engage with legislation
• From Idea to Impact — AI-powered campaigns for legislative advocacy goals
• Live Demo & Q&A — Interactive demonstration with audience questions welcome

🔗 Click here to register — it’s free!

Presenters Chunhua Liao, Sam Li, and Rich Liu walked attendees through live demos, real workflows, and practical insights on getting started with AI agents. Here is a recap of the key highlights.

📊 View the full slides: SVCAF OpenClaw Seminar — March 7, 2026

🎬 Watch the full recording: SVCAF OpenClaw Seminar — March 7, 2026 (YouTube)

From Chatbot to AI Agent: What Is the Difference?

The seminar opened by drawing a clear distinction between traditional chatbots and modern AI agents. While chatbots respond to single questions, an AI agent like OpenClaw takes multi-step actions autonomously — managing email, calendar, files, and web browsing on your behalf, all through a simple chat interface on Discord, Telegram, or WhatsApp.

Chatbot vs. AI Agent — the key differences

Key Insight #1: Your Agent Is Only as Good as Its Configuration

One of the most valuable takeaways: out of the box, an AI agent is a blank slate. What makes it powerful is how you configure it. SVCAF uses plain-text files — SOUL.md (the agent’s values and limits), AGENTS.md (operational rules), and MEMORY.md (long-term memory) — to give our agent a clear identity, workflow, and institutional knowledge.

“ChatGPT gives you a smart stranger. OpenClaw lets you build a smart colleague.” — Chunhua

How SVCAF configures the agent to reason with evidence and first principles

Key Insight #2: Automation Without Constant Prompting — Heartbeats and Cron Jobs

SVCAF’s agent runs proactively without anyone having to ask. Two mechanisms make this possible:

• Heartbeat: Every ~30 minutes, the agent wakes up and checks for urgent emails, upcoming calendar events, and anything that needs attention.
• Cron Jobs: Scheduled at exact times — a Daily Learning Brief runs every morning at 7 AM (pulling AI news and policy updates into a Gmail draft), and a Daily Self-Reflection runs at 2 AM to review the day and improve the agent’s own rules.

Heartbeat vs. Cron Jobs — when to use each

Key Insight #3: Real SVCAF Use Cases in Action

Chunhua demonstrated several live workflows SVCAF already uses today:

• Event Flyer Design: Share a reference flyer, the agent analyzes the style, generates a new flyer using AI image generation, and iterates based on feedback. Four versions in minutes, not hours.
• Website Management: Post to svcaf.org via WordPress API with a single message. No CMS login needed.
• Semantic Search: Query across 900+ SVCAF documents — meeting minutes, Drive files, website posts — using meaning, not just keywords. Example: searching “漂流活动” (rafting activity) instantly found relevant archived posts.
• WeChat Article Pipeline: A 9-step multi-agent workflow that takes an idea and produces a fully illustrated, fact-checked, WeChat-ready article draft in 5–10 minutes.
• Google Workspace Integration: Full Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Sheets, Docs, and Slides access — all accessible through a single conversation.

How the agent designed an event flyer from a single reference image

Semantic search across 900+ SVCAF documents — finding meaning, not just keywords

The 9-step multi-agent WeChat article pipeline

Key Insight #4: Skills — Extending the Agent Like App Plugins

OpenClaw supports “skills” — modular plug-ins that give agents specialized capabilities. The community registry at clawhub.com offers free, open skills you can install with one command. SVCAF has already contributed several skills to the community, including a Docker setup guide and a WeChat article writer.

Key Insight #5: Multi-Agent Collaboration — Sam Li’s Demo

Sam Li presented an innovative demo: a cooperative AI game designed for OpenClaw agents, where multiple agents work together like a band — each with different capabilities (writing poetry, drawing, speaking). The demo showcased how multiple agents can collaborate on creative tasks, with each agent contributing its specialty to a shared goal.

Key Insight #6: Security and Privacy First — Rich Liu’s Perspective

Rich Liu shared practical safety advice for new users:

• Avoid sharing real personal information with AI agents until you trust them
• Use a separate email account when experimenting
• Install agents in a sandbox environment, especially for sensitive operations like financial tasks
• Start simple — build trust before delegating complex workflows

The honest truth about getting started — and what makes OpenClaw click

Getting Started with OpenClaw

There are three paths to running OpenClaw:

• Easiest (Cloud): DigitalOcean Marketplace — $12/month, 5-minute setup
• Free: Oracle Cloud Always Free Tier — 4 ARM CPUs, 24GB RAM, $0/month forever
• DIY: Your own Mac, Linux, or Docker setup with free OpenRouter models

Want to try SVCAF’s public AI agent? Join our Discord: discord.gg/yXnx9xnP

What Is Next for SVCAF

SVCAF’s AI roadmap — what’s already working and what’s coming next

We are building an AI-first nonprofit — not because it is trendy, but because it lets our volunteer team serve the Chinese American community at a scale that was previously impossible.

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated. Special thanks to Sam Li and Rich Liu for their presentations and demos. Stay tuned for future SVCAF events and seminars.

📧 Questions? info@svcaf.org  |  🌐 svcaf.org

*Digital Democracy: AI For Good * by Prof. Foaad Khosmood

Slides: Link

Summary Generated by Zoom AI Companion

Seminar Format and Presentation Planning

Chunhua and Foaad discussed technical issues with screen sharing and confirmed that Foaad could present his slides. They agreed on the format of the seminar, which would include a presentation followed by a Q&A session. Foaad mentioned he would include a pop quiz at the beginning of his presentation, and Chunhua approved of this idea. They noted that while some people had registered for the seminar, others might forget, but the session would be recorded for those who couldn’t attend.

AI for Legislation and Democracy

Chunhua, the co-founder and president of the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation, introduced the 5th seminar on AI for legislation and projects, aiming to attract submissions from across the United States. Foaad, an expert in AI and legislation from Cal Poly, discussed the concept of digital democracy, a philanthropically funded research project hosted by CalMatters, which uses AI to enhance government transparency and aid citizens and journalists. Foaad shared the project’s history, achievements, and future plans, including a new tip sheet system for reporters, and invited questions and collaboration opportunities.

Enhancing Government Transparency Through AI

Foaad discussed the lack of accessible transcripts for California state legislature proceedings, highlighting how this gap in information has been exacerbated by the decline of local news coverage. He explained that the initial goal of his project was to record legislative discussions, which evolved into a broader mission to save democracy by enhancing government transparency. Foaad also provided a brief history of the project, noting its expansion from California to other states and the development of tools like Robot Reporter and AI tip sheets to aid in legislative tracking and reporting.

Government Transcript Annotation System

Foaad discussed the challenges of creating accurate and comprehensive transcripts of government proceedings, highlighting the limitations of automated transcription systems and the need for human verification. He explained their development of a web-based transcription annotation system that allows a remote workforce to review and correct transcripts while also identifying speakers and their affiliations. Foaad also described their use of face and voice recognition tools to assist in speaker identification, though these methods are less effective for the general public compared to legislators. The system integrates various sources of information, including bills, financial data, and lobbying activities, to provide a more complete context for the discussions.

Digital Democracy Platform Overview

Foaad presented a comprehensive overview of Digital Democracy, a platform that provides access to legislative information and generates news tips for journalists. He demonstrated how the site offers detailed profiles of legislators, including their voting records, financial disclosures, and alignments with interest groups. Foaad explained the tip sheet system, which helps reporters identify newsworthy events by analyzing factors such as statistical anomalies and previous news coverage. He also highlighted ongoing research efforts to improve the platform’s predictive capabilities and expand its reach to other states.

Challenges in Legislative Data Tracking

Foaad discussed Digital Democracy’s work in tracking legislative data and the challenges they face, including occasional corrections needed for accuracy and pushback from legislatures. He explained that while they have considered expanding to cities, the cost and complexity of adapting their system for different municipal processes make it difficult. Foaad also mentioned that Digital Democracy helped pass a ballot measure in 2018 that allowed them to use legislative videos and included a requirement for bills to remain unchanged for 72 hours before the final vote.

Legislative Data Analysis for Journalists

The meeting focused on discussing a project that analyzes legislative information and provides insights to journalists. Foaad explained that journalists often rely on press releases for tips, which can be biased, and highlighted the challenges of funding and staffing for such projects. He shared that their system uses limited AI for summarization and presentation, not for generating content, and suggested exploring digital humanities approaches for analyzing documents. Chunhua inquired about AI tools for ballot measure analysis and updating systems with new AI models, to which Foaad recommended using existing voter guides and considering generative AI cautiously due to its speculative nature.

AI-generated content may be inaccurate or misleading. Always check for accuracy.

Guest: Prof. Foaad Khosmood

Why you’ll want to meet him

• Forbes Endowed Professor of Computer Engineering at Cal Poly SLO

• Research Director, Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy (home of Digital Democracy)

• Co-founder & past president of Global Game Jam —the world’s largest game-creation event

• Emmy-winning data-journalism collaborator (2025 Northern California Emmys) for Digital Democracy reporting with CalMatters & CBS News

• Visiting Scholar, Imperial College London

What might he reveal?

(We’re keeping the agenda under wraps, but expect one or more of these treats…)

• How Digital Democracy turns legislative events into actionable intelligence for reporters.

• Practical tips for plugging legislative data into your own AI projects.

• Lessons from running global hackathons—and what makes projects stand out.

• The future of AI-powered transparency in state politics.

• Behind-the-scenes stories from his Emmy-winning investigation.

Zoom registration link https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/al3ey4RVQ0uaBSjLNdu3kw  

Or scan the QR Code Below:

👨‍💻 Presenters: Alex Liao, Arnav Kakani, Sanjana Gowda, Shely Jain, and Mrinal Agarwal (Award-winning hackathon participants and experienced student developers)

💡 What You’ll Learn: When to use which AI tool for speed, privacy, or review Live demos with GitHub Copilot, OpenAI tools, Claude Code, and more How AI makes coding easier, smarter, and more fun—without replacing you.

Seminar slides

• Seminar 4: Introduction

• AI Coding Tools

🎯 Seminar Focus:

Learn how to boost your coding skills using modern AI coding tools. We’ll introduce 6 beginner-friendly tools and walk through 2 real-world coding challenges. Perfect for students, beginners, and the AI-curious!

👨‍💻 Presenters:

• Alex Liao, Arnav Kakani, Sanjana Gowda, Shely Jain, and Mrinal Agarwal (Award-winning hackathon participants and experienced student developers)

💡 What You’ll Learn:

• When to use which AI tool for speed, privacy, or review

• Live demos with GitHub Copilot, OpenAI tools, Claude Code, and more

• How AI makes coding easier, smarter, and more fun—without replacing you

👥 Who Should Attend:

• Beginner coders

• Students learning Python or web development

• Anyone curious about AI and the future of code

🔗 Registration:

📅 Date: Saturday, June 21, 2025

🕚 Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Time 🕒 Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern Time

📍 Online via Zoom

Reserve your spot now:

👉 https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XctlHhR4R6SMk462umcxIw

Or scan the QR Code below:

You’ll receive the Zoom link in your confirmation email.

We encourage all AI4Legislation participants to attend—and please invite friends or classmates who might want to join the competition. This is a great way to stay connected, inspired, and involved!

Let’s build a more informed and innovative civic future—together.

AI in Programming: Opportunities and Challenges

The meeting began with Chunhua promoting an upcoming competition and introducing the AI for Legislation Tech Seminar. Cynthia hosted the seminar, introducing speakers and managing the presentation flow. Leon, an expert in large language models, discussed the evolving role of computer science and the impact of AI on programming. He highlighted how AI tools like GitHub Copilot have revolutionized coding by reducing the need for manual debugging and API documentation reading. However, Leon also noted limitations of AI, such as high operational costs, slow processing speeds, and the potential for hallucinations and errors. The session concluded with an open invitation for questions, which attendees were encouraged to submit via chat.

AI Model Cost and Performance Comparison

Leon presented a comparison of AI language models, focusing on cost and performance. He highlighted that the latest Gemini model is more affordable than OpenAI’s GPT-3, with input tokens costing $1.25 to $2 and output tokens $10, compared to OpenAI’s $10 input and $40 output tokens. Leon also demonstrated a visualization tool he created to compare different AI models across companies, showing that 2025 is a significant year for AI advancements, particularly from Google. Finally, Leon discussed the use of Python for data analysis, noting its advantages over traditional BI software like Power BI, particularly in handling large datasets and performing mathematical operations accurately.

Data Scraping and Visualization Tools

Leon presented on data scraping and visualization tools, highlighting Python libraries like requests, Selenium, and Scrapy Spider for web data collection. He introduced several public datasets, including Ledger Scan API and US government data, and demonstrated how to use Google Gemini for data visualization prototyping. Leon also discussed the capabilities of Grok, emphasizing its real-time data features and comparison to other tools like ChatGPT and Claude.

AI Tools for Developers

Leon demonstrated the capabilities of different AI tools, particularly focusing on GitHub Copilot’s debugging and code generation features, which he noted costs $10 per month and offers more advanced functionality than ChatGPT. He explained that different AI models serve different levels of developers, from beginners to professionals, and emphasized that learning Python is still valuable for problem-solving, though he suggested a practical approach of starting with specific problems rather than a formal course. Chunhua agreed that Python knowledge is beneficial for verifying AI outputs and guiding the process, while the conversation ended with Jeff expressing appreciation for the presentation despite not being in the tech field.

AI Agent Customization and Limitations

Leon explained the capabilities and limitations of AI agents, particularly focusing on large language models and their ability to handle specialized tasks. He clarified that while current models have a knowledge cutoff date and cannot learn from ongoing user interactions, they can be customized for specific industries or fields through tools like MCP (Model Context Protocol) and fine-tuning. Jeff inquired about the feasibility of building small, specialized models for specific tasks, and Leon discussed the costs and challenges involved, including the risk of obsolescence due to advancements in AI technology. Jason asked about the possibility of non-computer-savvy individuals creating agents for repetitive data input tasks, to which Leon suggested using retrieval-based agents or platforms like Replit for smaller, more focused problems.

McP: Evolution and Business Opportunities

Leon explained the functionality of MCP, an interface between language models and APIs, and demonstrated how it can be used to create tools for non-programmers. He also discussed the evolution from GPT to MCP, noting that while GPT was easier to use, MCP is more powerful. The group explored potential business opportunities around non-code MCP development tools and AI cursor functionality for presentations. Leon shared a benchmarking website (beta.lm-arena) to help users choose models for different tasks, and SVCA requested Leon to share his slides for future reference.

Summary prepared by Zoom AI Companion

Hosted by the AI4Legislation Team of SVCAF

We are excited to invite all teams and individuals—especially those who have submitted a Letter of Intention for the 2025 AI4Legislation competition—to join us for an insightful seminar focused on AI programming and data analysis.

Whether you are a high school student, college student, or an AI-curious innovator, this session will help you understand how to integrate large language models into meaningful civic tech and policy analysis projects.

🗓 Event Details

• Topic: AI Programming for Data Analysis

• Date: Sunday, June 8, 2025

• Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time / 2:00 PM Eastern Time

• Location: Zoom (Registration Required)

• Register Now: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/OIJgJMgZS_WZNadPBuimXQ

Registration Required: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the Zoom session.

🎙️ Featured Speaker:

Mr. Liang Guo

AI programming and data analysis expert, with a strong background in large language model (LLM) applications, public datasets, and real-world data workflows.

📚 Tentative Agenda

• What Programming Paradigm Do Large Language Models Address?

• Limitations of LLMs Compared to Traditional Programming Paradigms

• Choosing the Right LLM Model for the Right Problem

• Where to Find High-Quality Public and Government Datasets

• Using LLMs for Data Collection

• Using LLMs for Data Presentation

• Q&A Session

🎯 Who Should Attend?

• Individuals or teams who submitted a Letter of Intention for the AI4Legislation competition

• High school and college students interested in AI, data science, or civic tech

• New participants considering submitting a project to the competition

• Anyone curious about using AI to solve public policy challenges

💡 The session will be recorded and made available to the public later.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Yesterday, our guest Karen Suhaka, founder of BillTrack50, presented with us on using AI to analyze legislative data, highlighting how her platform provides bill summaries, tracks legislation, and aids public understanding. She discussed the complexities of the U.S. legislative process, the technical and ethical considerations in building policy-focused AI tools, and advice for entrepreneurs creating civic tech solutions.

Karen has generously shared both her BillTrack50 API and her slides for the presentation with us. To access the API (until August 1, 2025), you must reach out to Karen@LegiNation.com as a competitor in AI4Legislation. Thank you, Karen!

Featured: Karen Suhaka, serial entrepreneur and founder of BillTrack50

Missed the webinar? Watch it here!

Introduction

SVCAF invited Karen Suhaka, founder of BillTrack50, to present in our second webinar in AI4Legislation. Karen is a serial entrepreneur with two previous successful ventures, and founded BillTrack50 in 2011 to make legislative data more accessible. Since her prior background was in physics and mathematics rather than legislation, the journey this time involved learning deeply about a new field.

Legislative Process Refresher (from a data perspective)

Karen started off by explaining how a bill becomes a law:

• An idea from a citizen, lawmaker, or interest group is brought to a legislator for sponsorship.

• The legislator submits the idea to a bill drafter, who formats the proposal into a compliant legislative draft. Some states allow access to draft bills but most do not, which hinders early data collection.

• Once finalized, the bill is introduced to the legislature, read at the House or Senate where it originated from, and requires the support of a committee to proceed to floor voting.

• If its originating chamber’s floor vote passes the bill, the process must be repeated at the other chamber. Any amendments must be agreed upon by both chambers until a final version is approved. The floor vote data are typically made available

• The Governor or President can sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or let it sit until it becomes a law automatically or dies (pocket veto). If vetoed, the legislature may override the veto with a higher vote threshold. Veto and override data are typically publicized.

Across the 50 states, each legislature functions a little differently, and the data (such as votes, bill texts, and committee summaries) that are available generally vary in format as well. These inconsistencies add up, resulting in a highly complex process to track legislative bill processing across the nation.

Building Legislative Tools with AI

Key areas that developers should consider include defining the painpoint, knowing your audience, addressing data challenges, choosing AI models, and considering ethical standards. Karen emphasized that a majority of the project occurs before any programming happens, because the most important aspect of a successful business venture is making sure people have a need for your solution, and you have a way to market your solution to that target audience. Legislative AI entrepreneurs must also consider variances in data formats (HTML vs. PDF, structured vs. unstructured, costs and reliability), test different AI models or vector databases, and honor the ethics of AI usage (such as privacy, partisanship, bias, human error, misinformation).

Demo: How BillTrack50 Uses AI

Next, Karen demonstrated how AI generates plain-language summaries for bills. Vectorization can be used to show similar bills across states. BillTrack50 also includes user tools like flagging inaccurate summaries, which helps improve the product. Karen acknowledged that occassional weird AI outputs may appear, and explained that they are filtered or corrected in different ways.

Project Ideas for AI4Legislation Participants

Karen raised a few project ideas for competing in AI4Legislation:

• Predict the likelihood of bill passage

• Analyze intent or sentiment of a bill (e.g. anti vs. pro gun control)

• Explain amendments and their impacts on existing laws

• Track model bills that spread across multiple states

• Compare how legislators vote vs. constituents’ actual values

Tips on Entrepreneurship

Karen had three main tips for successful entrepreneurship:

• Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – what is the smallest feature set that someone will pay for? You want to get your first non-friend customer quickly, and sometimes that means the product might not be completely “finished” yet.

• Form a team that fits your company’s culture, not just filling in gaps in skillsets.

• Differentiate between “dumb money” and “smart money”

“dumb money” – your family and friends might help fund your project, but that’s usually a one-time thing with no buy-in or further benefits attached.

• “smart money” – find investors with industry knowledge and not just money! They can connect you to other resources that can help you grow your business.

• Building legislative technology, including identifying a need, choosing your data and method, and navigating ethical considerations

• Her own legal tech company, BillTrack50, as a case study from starting up to scaling and customer feedback

• Project ideas for the Summer 2025 AI4Legislation competition (details found here)

• Tips for entrepreneurship

Event Details

• Date & Time: Monday, April 28, 2025. 12:00pm – 1:00pm Pacific

• Location: Online on Zoom – RSVP here!

• Speaker: Karen Suhaka (Founder of BillTrack50)

• Host: Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation

• Format:

Brief Introduction by SVCAF President Chunhua Liao (5 min)

• Presentation by Karen Suhaka (30 min)

• Live Q&A (15 min)

Why Should You Attend?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the legislative landscape, influencing everything from policy drafting to legal decision-making. This seminar offers a unique opportunity to explore how AI is being integrated into legal documents analysis and the new opportunities it presents to civilians. By attending, you will gain insights from experts actively shaping the intersection of AI and governance, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and participate in a live Q&A session to deepen your understanding. Whether you are a legal professional, tech researcher, or simply curious about the future of AI in legislation, this event will provide valuable knowledge and resources to help you stay informed in this evolving field.

Missed the 1st Webinar?

Don’t worry, we clipped it for you!

Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to interview William Tsui about his legal tech document analysis startup, Legalese Decoder. The seminar recap and recording can be found here.

Important Links

• RSVP to access the public seminar Zoom invitation

• Recorded Webinars on YouTube

• AI4Legislation Competition Home

• AI4Legislation Competition Discord Server

• Call for Volunteers

• Donate to SVCAF or AI4Legislation

About the Organizer

Incorporated in April 2015, Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation (SVCAF) is a nonprofit grassroots organization working to promote the involvement of Chinese communities in public affairs and public policy in the United States. As an integral part of the Chinese communities in Northern California and with strong ties across the United States, we are making meaningful progress in providing education to Chinese communities on the legal and political systems in California and the nation. We also encourage active civil engagement and political participation by Chinese communities, through events and projects open to the public, such as AI4Legislation.

Written bySVCAF AI Agent

The webinar covered discussions on an upcoming project, the AI for Legislation competition, and the potential of AI in legal and legislative processes. Participants shared their experiences and insights on AI technology, its applications in simplifying legal matters, and its potential impact on various industries. The conversation also touched on the challenges and opportunities of AI, including its limitations, potential biases, and the importance of focusing on solving real-world problems with passion.

Featured: Chunhua Liao, SVCAF President & Computer Scientist; William Tsui, Founder of Legalese Decoder and serial entrepreneur

Missed the seminar? Watch it here!

Speakers Introduction

Cynthia (host) and Chunhua discussed the AI4Legislation project and the progress of their outreach to Carnegie Mellon University. Chunhua expressed interest in asking the seminar speaker about his startup company’s competition with big tech companies. William, the seminar speaker (founder of Legalese Decoder), joined the meeting and introduced himself as an entrepreneur with experience in starting businesses, including a Fintech project. He shared his experience with simplifying the payment process, but faced challenges with adoption due to regulatory issues. Chunhua, the president of Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation, discussed the organization’s mission to promote civil engagement among Chinese Americans in Silicon Valley. He also introduced the AI for Legislation project, which aims to leverage AI technology for legislative processes. Cynthia, the project’s part-time manager, expressed her enthusiasm for AI4Legislation and her desire to continue working on it. William, a seasoned entrepreneur, shared his experiences and expressed his admiration for the project’s potential.

William Examines the Roots and Goals of Legalese Decoder

William, the founder of Legalese Decoder, shared his background in technology and problem-solving, highlighting his interest in AI. He recounted a personal experience with an API company, which led him to develop a tool that could analyze text and assist with legal and tax matters, particularly for small business owners and individuals dealing with government paperwork. William expressed excitement about AI’s ability to analyze large amounts of data and summarize complex information, suggesting that AI could help draft bills more efficiently and identify inconsistencies between different pieces of legislation. William also proposed the idea of implementing expiry dates for laws to address outdated legislation.

Governing Programs with Code, Governing Society with Laws

Chunhua discussed his background in computer science and his realization of the importance of laws and legislative processes, particularly in the context of his status as a US citizen. He emphasized the competitive edge of a country’s constitution and laws in fostering good behaviors and reducing bad ones. Chunhua also highlighted the revolutionary impact of large language models and AI, predicting their widespread adoption and potential for extracting knowledge from various inputs. He jokely expressed regret over not investing more in Nvidia stocks related to this technology. Chunhua discussed the potential of combining legal processes with AI technology. William agreed, highlighting the current limitations of AI in solving all legal problems but its potential to assist lawyers and legislators. He shared examples of AI’s positive impact on society, such as helping individuals navigate legal issues without professional assistance.

Startups vs Big Tech

Chunhua then asked about positioning the startup in the competitive AI landscape, to which William advised against direct competition with larger tech companies like Google. William discussed the company’s specialization on legal matters for small business owners, leveraging foundational models from Google and OpenAI. He emphasized the importance of user engagement with AI tools and the need for affordable solutions.

Evaluating AI as a Tool

Cynthia raised concerns about bias in AI, particularly in legal advice, and William acknowledged the issue, noting that it’s not unique to their company. William and Chunhua discussed the challenges and improvements in AI models for legal interpretation. They acknowledged that AI is not a complete replacement for human judges or lawyers but is getting better with time. They emphasized the importance of establishing a baseline for AI performance, comparing it to human capabilities, and focusing on the quality of services provided. They also expressed optimism about the potential of AI in the future, with the belief that it will lead to a society with abundance.

Passion Over Prizes: Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

William and Chunhua discussed the potential of AI technology, with William emphasizing that it is not hype but a real game-changer. He shared his experience of using AI to produce articles at a fraction of the cost and time it would have taken with human writers. Chunhua agreed, noting that AI could replace human labor in many areas. They also touched on the future of jobs, with William suggesting that entrepreneurs should focus on their passion and use AI to build prototypes quickly, rather than waiting for funding or a team. In the meeting, William and Chunhua discussed the importance of finding a problem that people are passionate about and building a solution to it, regardless of winning a competition. They emphasized the need to focus on what one is passionate about and not just try to win a prize. Chunhua also shared his belief that with the help of powerful AI tools, even high school students can take on complex projects. The conversation ended with a discussion about the potential for small teams to become billion-dollar companies.

For more information about this competition:

• /posts/call-for-volunteers-for-ai4legislation-using-ai-to-enhance-civic-awareness-and-action/

• https://github.com/svcaf/2025-AI4Legislation-Public

Event Overview

The AI4Legislation seminar series is recurring during the first week of each month, with the purpose of providing project guidance, inspiration, and current information about legislative AI tools to our competitors and the general public. As AI becomes increasingly capable, we need to harness its power and efficiency to make processes more equitable and effective. Legislation is no exception.

In each seminar, a different guest will share with us how their company or product is utilizing AI to address key challenges in lawmaking, and what the future of AI-driven governance might look like. The topics of our seminar may be most interesting to policymakers, legal professionals, AI researchers, and students interested in law or technology— but all are encouraged to attend and ask questions!

Event Details

• Date & Time: Wednesday April 2, 2025. 6:30pm – 7:30pm (Pacific Time)

• Location: Online (Zoom). RSVP Here

• Speakers:

Chunhua Liao (President of SVCAF and veteran Computer Scientist)

• William Tsui (Founder of Legalese Decoder)

• Host: Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation

• Format:

Brief introduction by President Chunhua Liao

• Hosted interview with our speakers

• Live Q&A (~10 min.)

Why Should You Attend?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the legislative landscape, influencing everything from policy drafting to legal decision-making. This seminar offers a unique opportunity to explore how AI is being integrated into legal documents analysis and the new opportunities it presents to civilians. By attending, you will gain insights from experts actively shaping the intersection of AI and governance, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and participate in a live Q&A session to deepen your understanding. Whether you are a legal professional, tech researcher, or simply curious about the future of AI in legislation, this event will provide valuable knowledge and resources to help you stay informed in this evolving field.

Important Links

• RSVP to access the public seminar Zoom invitation.

• AI4Legislation Competition Home

• AI4Legislation Competition Discord Server

• Call for Volunteers

• Donate to SVCAF or AI4Legislation

About the Organizer

Incorporated in April 2015, Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation (SVCAF) is a nonprofit grassroots organization working to promote the involvement of Chinese communities in public affairs and public policy in the United States. As an integral part of the Chinese communities in Northern California and with strong ties across the United States, we are making meaningful progress in providing education to Chinese communities on the legal and political systems in California and the nation. We also encourage active civil engagement and political participation by Chinese communities, through events and projects open to the public, such as AI4Legislation.