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A new report by Beth Kerley, Carl Miller, and Fernanda Campagnucci outlines possible paths toward a prodemocratic vision for AI.

summary

Like social media before them, new AI tools promise to change the game when it comes to civic engagement. These technologies offer bold new possibilities for investigative journalists, anticorruption advocates, and others working with limited resources to advance democratic norms.

Yet the transformation wrought by AI advances is far from guaranteed to work in democracy’s favor. Potential threats to democracy from AI have drawn wide attention. To better the odds for prodemocratic actors in a fluid technological environment, systematic thinking about how to make AI work for democracy is needed.

The essays in this report outline possible paths toward a prodemocratic vision for AI. An overview essay by Beth Kerley based on insights from an International Forum for Democratic Studies expert workshop reflects on the critical questions that confront organizations seeking to deploy AI tools. Fernanda Campagnucci, spotlighting the work of Open Knowledge Brasil to open up government data, explores how AI advances are creating new opportunities for citizens to scrutinize public information. Finally, Demos’s Carl Miller sheds light on how AI technologies that enable new forms of civic deliberation might change the way we think about democratic participation itself.

launch event

On October 3rd at 10:00 am EDT, the International Forum for Democratic Studies hosted a virtual event launching the new report, “Leveraging AI for Democracy: Civic Innovation on the New Digital Playing Field.” During this event, authors Fernanda Campagnucci (University of Münster) and Carl Miller (Demos), as well as Daniel O’Maley (National Endowment for Democracy), discussed key findings from the report. Christopher Walker (National Endowment for Democracy) provided opening remarks and Beth Kerley (International Forum) moderated the discussion. Watch here.

related essays

In an overview essay based on insights from the Forum’s expert workshops, Beth Kerley reflects on the critical questions that confront organizations seeking to deploy AI tools.

• “AI for Civil Society: Tilting the Balance” by Beth Kerley

In the second essay, Fernanda Campagnucci, spotlighting the work of Open Knowledge Brasil, explores how AI advances are creating new opportunities for citizens to scrutinize public information.

• “From Data Deserts to AI Oceans” by Fernanda Campagnucci

In the final essay, Demos’s Carl Miller sheds light on how AI technologies that enable new forms of civic deliberation might change the way we think about democratic participation itself.

• “Reclaiming Technology for Democracy” by Carl Miller

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“Leveraging AI for Democracy: Civic Innovation on the New Digital Playing Field” by Beth Kerley, Carl Miller, and Fernanda Campagnucci is a report produced by the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Forum for Democratic Studies. 

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