Naslov
Advanced Technology and Democracy – What Artificial Intelligence Has to Do with It?

Autori
Žažar, Krešimir

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
International Social Theory Consortium 2021 Conference: Democracy In Crisis… Democracy In Peril

Mjesto i datum
On-line, 17.06.2021. - 19.06.2021

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
artificial intelligence ; personalized algorithms ; emancipatory potential ; anti-democratic threats ; political neutrality of technology

Sažetak
The paper examines the relation between the current technological advancement and democracy. Specifically, it considers the possible effects of the ongoing digital transformation (often depicted as 'fourth industrial revolution'), primarily anchored in artificial intelligence (AI), on democratic practices. The recent upsurge of AI conveys the development of diverse algorithms capable of detecting certain patterns within an enormous bulk of data, but also of finding a suitable solution for a given task, as is the case with artificial neural networks. Due to personalized algorithms, AI tools are capable of extracting and recognizing patterns of individual preferences, even if somebody is or is not aware of such regularities. The crucial discussed questions are: How can AI instruments be applied in a political field and how can they affect the democratic process? The possible effects are twofold, both negative and positive. Regarding the latter, a possible advantage of AI is underlined as it can contribute to yielding well-informed appropriate decisions rooted in analyses of a series of data, enhance the argumentation lines within the democratic debates, contribute to deducing pertinent individual decisions and generally encourage a higher degree of personal involvement in the political life. Current technology undoubtedly possesses the potential to refine democratic practices and reshape them into a fully participatory form. However, contemporary technology does not inherently guarantee that such emancipatory promise will ever be accomplished. Quite contrary, it could avert into a non- democratic or even anti-democratic direction. Diverse studies indicate that the usage of personal algorithms regularly leads toward information bubbles and echo chambers within which citizens remain confined solely to environments and networks of persons with equal or similar opinions and systems of values. Rather than developing democratic discussions based on the exchange of rational arguments (in Habermasian’s sense), the depicted biases imply segregation and even polarization. Insights gained on AI might also be misused and applied for different manipulations. Furthermore, the collecting and analysing of a tremendous amount of personal data is always intertwined with the question of surveillance, privacy, and in the end, citizens’ rights. The aforementioned issues are just some of the discussed flaws when considering the relation of AI to democracy. However, and that is the crucial thesis, technology should be principally conceived as ‘politically neutral’. In other words, AI could be viewed as a means to improve democratic practices, but it also could profoundly undermine the democratic system. Albeit accessibility of technology is indisputably relevant to assure a more participatory political system, the answer whether AI will foster democracy or will represent an instrument of its failure, to a greater extent does not lie in the domain of technology, but primarily depends on attributes of the overall social environment, especially on the political/democratic culture. One of the crucial challenges is to nurture the democratic culture of responsible, well-informed, participatory citizens who are willing to take part in democratic practices and are capable of using data provided by AI to enrich their democratic capacities and enact proper decisions. Besides, it is also important to ensure that AI technologies are pertinently used in the political system, so they can prevent anti-democratic misuses and threats and contribute to the emergence of a truly democratic decision making system that has never existed before.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA