Artificial Intelligence and the Past, Present, and Future of Democracy

Artificial Intelligence and the Past, Present, and Future of Democracy

Abstract:

Located at the intersection of political philosophy, philosophy of technology and political history, this essay reflects on medium and long-term prospects and challenges for democracy that arise from AI, emphasizing how critical a stage this is. Modern democracies involve structures for collective choice that periodically empower relatively few people to steer the social direction for everybody. As in all forms of governance, technology shapes how this unfolds. Specialized AI changes what philosophers of technology would call the materiality of democracy, not just in the sense that independent actors deploy different tools. AI changes how collective decision making unfolds and what its human participants are like (how they see themselves in relation to their environment, what relationships they have and how those are designed, and generally what form of human life can get realized). AI and democracy are not “natural allies:” it takes active design choices and much political will for AI so serve democratic purposes.

Read the full paper

: Mathias Risse | July 26 2021
: How does AI instigate prospects and challenges for modern democracies in our near and distant futures?
Last updated on 04/17/2023