How will advanced AI systems impact democracy?

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential impacts of advanced generative AI on democracy, including its effects on informed decision-making, democratic stability, and foundational principles, highlighting both risks and opportunities.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of how generative AI could influence democratic processes, addressing epistemic, material, and foundational impacts with balanced insights.

Findings

AI may both challenge and support democratic mechanisms

Generative AI can enhance public discourse and education

Potential risks include destabilizing elections and misinformation

Abstract

Advanced AI systems capable of generating humanlike text and multimodal content are now widely available. In this paper, we discuss the impacts that generative artificial intelligence may have on democratic processes. We consider the consequences of AI for citizens' ability to make informed choices about political representatives and issues (epistemic impacts). We ask how AI might be used to destabilise or support democratic mechanisms like elections (material impacts). Finally, we discuss whether AI will strengthen or weaken democratic principles (foundational impacts). It is widely acknowledged that new AI systems could pose significant challenges for democracy. However, it has also been argued that generative AI offers new opportunities to educate and learn from citizens, strengthen public discourse, help people find common ground, and to reimagine how democracies might work better.