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About

As technology transforms our world, the future of politics and democracy hangs in the balance. The rapid rise of robotization, digitalization, and automation poses unprecedented challenges—and opportunities—that we are only beginning to understand. How will these technological advances reshape governance and political systems? Will they strengthen democracy, or will they erode it?

Two opposing perspectives dominate the discourse. On one hand, the prophets of technological enthusiasm envision a future where technology solves the problems that traditional politics could not, even suggesting that it could replace weakened or dysfunctional government systems. On the other hand, critics warn that technology could undermine democratic processes, stripping away our ability to manage social issues and making political decisions less transparent and more controlled by algorithms.

Both technophilia and technophobia stem from a common source: uncertainty about how technology will interact with politics. But instead of choosing sides, we must rigorously explore the complexities of this evolving relationship.

The Chair on Artificial Intelligence and Democracy (AI&DEM) was established precisely to tackle these complexities. Our mission is not merely to take a normative stance, but to deeply analyze and understand the conceptual challenges that automation and intelligent systems introduce. These challenges compel us to rethink fundamental sociocultural concepts like agency, responsibility, knowledge, and work in the context of an increasingly automated society.

As we move further into the 21st century, three key elements—intelligent systems, integrated technologies, and a more quantified society—will significantly influence politics. Our central inquiry is to redefine what democratic self-governance and free political decision-making mean in an AI-mediated world. Our ultimate goal is to develop a comprehensive theory of democratic decision-making within this new technological landscape and to establish a critical theory of algorithmic reasoning.

What is needed now is a political philosophy of artificial intelligence—an approach that goes beyond mere technological reflection or ethical guidelines. At its core, this philosophy must address the fundamental question: What role will political decisions play in an algorithmic democracy?

Our Mission

We strive to make sense of the evolving relationship between Artificial Intelligence and Democracy. In a world where the technological environment is rapidly changing, the Chair on Artificial Intelligence and Democracy rigorously investigates the potential impact of these technologies on democratic politics, seeking to illuminate a path forward.

Timeline: 2021-2025

Support: This programme is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and the European Union’s NextGenerationEU.

Objectives

  1. We develop a global forum for reflection and debate on AI and democracy, with an interdisciplinary approach and from the perspective of political philosophy.
  2. We build an ambitious, inter-disciplinary research agenda by leading research, transfer, and dissemination activities to raise awareness on matters related to artificial intelligence and democracy.
  3. We train and equip policymakers and other stakeholders with the knowledge and tools they will need to ensure that the benefits of AI are widely shared, and its risks mitigated.
  4. We create a global network of research institutions and think tanks to increase impact and incorporate new perspectives from across the globe.
  5. We connect with Latin America to understand the region’s approaches to the impact of AI on democratic systems and to foster the exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices.

Priorities

  • High-Level Policy Dialogue on “The Democratic Challenges of Artificial Intelligence”
  • Research and publications
  • Events and external engagement
  • Executive education and training
  • Iberoamerican Network for Democracy and Artificial Intelligence (REDemocracIA)

The Chair

Team

Advisory board

  • Portrait picture of Amparo Alonso Betanzos

    Amparo Alonso Betanzos

    CITIC-University of A Coruña (UDC)

  • Portrait picture of Sofia Näsström

    Sofia Näsström

    Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden

  • Portrait picture of Helen Margetts

    Helen Margetts

    Mansfield College

  • Portrait picture of Piergiorgio Donatelli

    Piergiorgio Donatelli

    Sapienza Università di Roma

  • Portrait picture of Stephan Lessenich

    Stephan Lessenich

    Institute for Social Research (IfS)

  • Portrait picture of Emilia Gomez Gutiérrez

    Emilia Gomez Gutiérrez

    European Commission DG Joint Research Centre (JRC)

Page last updated on 09/10/2024