# Pika: Empowering Non-Programmers to Author Executable Governance Policies in Online Communities

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.04329 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.04329/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 6 Oct 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Model Swarms: Collaborative Search to Adapt LLM Experts via Swarm Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.11163/) (2024)
- [Generative AI Models for Different Steps in Architectural Design: A Literature Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.01335/) (2024)
- [PhyEduVideo: A Benchmark for Evaluating Text-to-Video Models for Physics Education](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.00943/) (2026)
- [CogNarr Ecosystem: Facilitating Group Cognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.18945/) (2024)
- [IP Protection in the Era of Visual Generative AI: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.14730/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Internet users have formed a wide array of online communities with nuanced and diverse community goals and norms. However, most online platforms only offer a limited set of governance models in their software infrastructure and leave little room for customization. Consequently, technical proficiency becomes a prerequisite for online communities to build governance policies in code, excluding non-programmers from participation in designing community governance. In this paper, we present Pika, a system that empowers non-programmers to author a wide range of executable governance policies. At its core, Pika incorporates a declarative language that decomposes governance policies into modular components, thereby facilitating expressive policy authoring through a user-friendly, form-based web interface. Our user studies with 17 participants show that Pika can empower non-programmers to author governance policies approximately 2.5 times faster than programmers who author in code. We also provide insights about Pika's expressivity in supporting diverse policies that online communities want.