• Democracies worldwide are facing mounting concern over deepfakes, misinformation, algorithmic polarization, automated surveillance and the rising control of public information by a small number of technology platforms.
• The paper identifies four ways in which the term democratic AI is commonly used: majority rule, participation, deliberation and empowerment [in that order].
Democracies worldwide are facing mounting concern over deepfakes, misinformation, algorithmic polarization, automated surveillance and the rising control of public information by a small number of technology platforms.
A new study, When is AI democratic? Artificial intelligence and democratic empowerment, published in AI & Society, says democratic AI should be judged by whether it redistributes power and creates more balanced relations between citizens, governments, companies and technological systems.
Why participation alone does not make AI democratic
The paper identifies four ways in which the term democratic AI is commonly used: majority rule, participation, deliberation and empowerment. Majority-rule approaches seek to align AI systems with broad public preferences or consensus while participatory approaches focus on including more people in AI design and governance. Deliberative approaches use AI to support better public debate, reduce division or help citizens weigh policy options.
According to the study, they are incomplete unless they change the underlying distribution of power. A system that collects public opinion but leaves all decisions to private firms, government agencies or technical experts may look democratic without being meaningfully democratic. A consultation tool may invite thousands of citizens to respond but still keep authority concentrated among those who design the process, control the data or interpret the results.
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