Thomas Freer on The Role of AI in Democracy
Thomas Freer
The Role of AI in Democracy
Claims and stances
Transcript
- 0:01 So, what happens to democracy when AI can just make up our own opinions?
- 0:09 So, AI is transforming nearly every part of our society as we can see, and our democracy is not really an exception to that.
- 0:19 From new political campaigns to how the average American is getting their news, AI is changing how citizens get their information and what leaders they can trust.
- 0:33 It makes it easier than ever to produce misinformation and deep fakes as we've been seeing.
- 0:40 And these fake videos or AI-generated news stories can really confuse voters and hurt trust in our institutions and our political efficacy.
- 0:54 At the same time, campaigns are using AI to target voters with very highly personalized ads.
- 1:03 This technology can help candidates reach people more effectively, which is great, but it also raises a ton of concerns about manipulation and privacy of Americans.
- 1:17 And governments are beginning to use AI for decision making as well, things like how to allocate resources, just like companies are doing analyzing policy outcomes or predicting social trends.
- 1:30 And that can make government more efficient, but it also makes transparency more essential than ever.
- 1:39 Citizens should understand how the AI algorithms work, what values guide them, especially if it's making decisions about their tax dollars or what their government decides to prioritize.
- 1:55 And that can make government more efficient, obviously, but AI doesn't have to be a threat.
- 2:02 It could help strengthen our democracy.
- 2:05 Imagine like if AI tools help voters instantly fact-check political claims instead of helping politicians create fake claims, you know, or if it helped voters learn about certain policy issues tailored to what they actually care about.
- 2:27 Use wisely, AI can definitely expand access to information and make civic participation easier than ever, but it has to be implemented carefully.
- 2:39 The question isn't whether AI will shape democracy, it's uh whether we can use it responsibly because it definitely will impact our governments.
- 2:48 Um if we can treat AI as a partner in democracy instead of the controller behind the scenes, um we have a chance to make our political system smarter, fairer, and more human.