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Writer's pictureB. Thomas Marking

AI and the promise of Democracy

Updated: Sep 18

Leonard Cohen has a great stanza in his song, Democracy.


“It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change, and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.”


I wonder, however, whether the machinery and the thirst are still here.  So many Americans seem afraid of our nation becoming the kind of democracy where the People actually play a substantive role in their own governance.


Some old birds parrot the ancient song; democracy is nothing more than mob rule.  These folks may be unaware that the citizens of Switzerland have enjoyed participatory democracy since the mid-1800s.  They actually have direct control over the national policies that affect their lives.  Strangely, one does not associate Switzerland with frequent social unrest and insurrection.  Indeed, bringing the Citizenry into government has resulted in perhaps the most stable nation on this planet.


Other champions of the status quo argue that “government by the people” will inevitably result in a fatal cycle of demands for lower taxes and greater benefits.  The Swiss, however, seem a model of prudent financial management.  Contrast them, again, with the elected officials of our republic who have, coincidentally, a long history of lowering revenue while compiling unfathomable debt. 


Those same elected representatives, behind closed doors, will smirk and state flatly that the American voter is pathetically ignorant and far too apathetic to be entrusted with any task greater than periodically choosing between two pre-selected candidates for office.  Well of course we’re apathetic.  As Jon Stewart notes in his book, America - a Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, the ruling parties have rigged our political system to the point that we voters are almost irrelevant.  To the Republocrats, the Citizenry is just an expensive nuisance. 


As for being pathetically ignorant, might we ask our entrenched representatives what they have done to enlighten, ennoble and empower those with whom sovereignty supposedly rests?  It may well be argued that they have done far more to misinform, enfeeble and diminish the American Citizen – all in an effort to preserve a political system that, as Katherine Gehl writes in The Politics Industry,


“. . . is working exactly how it is designed to work, and it isn’t

designed to work for us – for ordinary citizens.

And, it will not self-correct.”

 


Now, along comes the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution. What will this do for the pathetic, apathetic, and deplorable America Citizen?  Like every new development in technology, it may be used for the advancement of humankind, or for its decline – most likely, both.


But let’s play the optimist for now.  Obviously, the emerging power of AI could support citizen participation in a more democratic form of government in several ways.  I am most interested, however, in countering the professional politician’s notion that they are vastly better informed than the general electorate. Consider this scenario:


Jane Q. Public has just dropped off her two children at soccer practice.  She now has a whole hour to breathe and focus on other matters.  There is a National Policy Referendum active for a few more days and it’s an interesting issue.  Jane grabs her phone and mentally formulates the command she will give.


“Hey, Jennings,” says the busy mother.

“Hello, Jane,” replies her AI chatbot. 

“Jennings, using only verified facts from non-partisan sources, summarize in two pages the arguments for and against a national policy that mandates the use of impartial citizen panels to define federal political districts.  And send that to my home printer.”

 

Jennings efficiently does her bidding and Citizen Jane now possesses the input needed to make an intelligent choice on the issue.  The next morning, Jane casts her secure ballot from her home computer and receives confirmation.  Later, if the majority of those responding to the referendum are in agreement, the new government by the people will have to comply.  Democracy will have finally come to America.


Is all this political fantasy or political prophesy?  The advent of AI, in my opinion, now makes the move to participatory democracy in America a matter of national survival.  The dominant political parties will weaponize AI to further spread the cancer of disunity through every corner of society.  They can’t help it.  It’s in their genes. 


Our only option now is to adopt a form of government that fosters the political maturity of its populace, empowering them to be full partners in their governance. Americans must demand the sovereignty they were promised so long ago.  In essence, The Citizenry needs to become the fourth branch of the federal government.  This will restore the balance of powers envisioned by the Founders.  A four-legged foundation is, after all, far more stable than three.

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