Artificial Intelligence and Democracy

American democracy has a major information problem. Most voters do not know who represents them or what they do, and most candidates and elected officials do not know what voters want or need. The result is a democracy in which politicians act contrary to the interests of their constituents and bear little cost for doing so because their constituents lack the information to hold them accountable. This contributes to a broader set of problems for democracy, including the systematic disengagement of segments of the population from political participation and their underrepresentation in the democratic process. This course will examine whether generative artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to address this problem and the threat that AI poses for democracy. The course will examine defects in democracy both domestically and globally and assess the opportunities and possibilities of trying to harness the new technology and its potential in service of democracy. In the first part of the course, we will explore how AI works. Next, we will examine defects in democracy focusing on participation, representation, and accountability. Finally, we will discuss the possibilities for AI as a tool to address democracy’s defects.