As AI continues to advance at a mind-boggling speed, citizens worldwide are incorporating it into their daily lives.
Yet at the same time, bad actors — from criminal networks to aspiring autocrats — now have more tools at their disposal to engineer the people’s will and undermine democracy.
As David Altman writes in the latest issue of the Journal of Democracy, “By flooding the public square with synthetic persuasion, fragmenting shared discourse, and overpowering traditional civil society.
“AI risks creating a system that is more plebiscitary than deliberative, more efficient than legitimate, and ultimately, more destabilizing than stabilizing.” The good news is that there are ways to avert these threats.
Read Altman’s essay and the Journal’s other coverage of AI’s impacts on democracy, free for a limited time.
The AI Democracy Dilemma
A revolution in political participation is underway: Political players and advocacy groups are using AI to draft ballot initiatives, gather signatures, and persuade voters—undermining democratic legitimacy in the process.
By David Altman
The AI Democracy Dilemma
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