Reboot summary

What exactly is democracy? Turns out it’s actually pretty hard to define. For some, it refers to a set of pragmatic decision-making practices. For others it means a set of liberal ideals, including freedom, equality, and the rule of law. Others even still imagine the direct democracy of ancient Athens.

No matter what definition of democracy you subscribe to, it’s undeniable that the day-to-day running of it depends on institutions. For the author Beth Noveck, institutions are humanity’s most profound technological innovation. They give us mechanisms, frameworks, and rules for collective decision making, cooperation and problem solving. Without them democracy would be impossible. 

Today, these institutions are under threat. More precisely, they face six crises: the crises of elections, truth, representation, participation, civility, and institutional effectiveness. We will consider three of these in the sections to come. 

AI, like any technology before it or any that will come after it, can be used to either strengthen or undermine these institutions. But most of the literature out there focuses on the dangers of AI and how to guard against them. What about the good it can do?

To understand how AI could reshape our institutions for the better, we first need to get to grips with how they actually function. 

Democratic institutions work in three clear phases: data, deliberation, and delivery. They start by collecting a diverse range of inputs from various data sources, communities, and experts. They then structure meaningful conversations around trade-offs, possibilities, and priorities, generating decisions. Finally they transform these decisions into concrete actions that have impact in the real world. 

Each of these stages can be improved using AI.

When it comes to data, AI can be used to mitigate one of the biggest challenges facing government today: information overload. Most government documents are trapped in densely written PDF files behind hard-to-navigate websites. A 2014 study by the World Bank even found that one third of its reports were never downloaded. AI can be used to extract useful information and transform it into actionable insights. It can also help leaders collect and analyze real-time resident feedback at scale. 

AI can also be used to widen the scope of deliberation, through technologies that allow agencies to listen at scale and respond in a way that is understandable for everyone. Imagine a town hall feedback session condensed into 2-minute readouts for councilors, or a benefits office automatically translating its responses to applicants in their mother tongue.

AI has already revolutionized delivery capabilities. For the first time in history, the people closest to pressing problems have the capability to design and implement their own digital solutions. Nurses, case workers, community organizers – they can use AI to create software without the need for engineers or procurement cycles. 

AI has the power to greatly strengthen the resilience of our democratic institutions in ever more challenging times. Let’s zoom in and see how it could help us in the first of our crises for democracy: the crisis of elections.