AI Ethics and Democracy: Debating Algorithm-Mediated Direct Democracy and the Democratization of AI

Utopias, Dystopias and Today's Technology

In a stimulating conversation about the intersection of democracy and AI, AI ethicist Dorothea Baur and host Johannes discuss the term "democratization of AI" and its disingenuous use by "technology evangelists." They explored the use of algorithms in democracy and government, with Dorothea expressing skepticism about César Hidalgo's "bold idea" of an algorithm-mediated direct democracy. She raised concerns that such a system could undermine the role of experts, undervalue debate and discussion, and worsen the war on accurate information. However, Johannes offered his belief that delegating important decisions to algorithms might be exactly the right thing, contrary to our instincts, since their properties can be understood and precisely *because* they lack emotions, making them more predictable and controllable in the long run. They both agreed that accountability is an issue that must be solved. The conversation was both engaging and informative, presenting a challenging exchange of viewpoints on this important topic.
César Hidalgo's "bold idea": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyGWML6cI_k&t=2s
Open AI's plan for AI behavior: https://openai.com/blog/how-should-ai-systems-behave
Arvind Narayanan's talk about AI snake-oil: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~arvindn/talks/MIT-STS-AI-snakeoil.pdf
Emily Bender on stochastic parrots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5c2X8vhfBE