Artificial Intelligence and the Challenges to Democracy
Subject Areas : Research in Theoritical Politics
1 - Associate Professor, Department of Political Sciences, Arak University, Arak, Iran
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, democracy, privacy, totalitarianism, cognitive manipulation.,
Abstract :
The increasing application of artificial intelligence (AI) across various aspects of life necessitates a scientific examination of its consequences for political society. The present article aims to address this research imperative by exploring the central question: In what ways and through which mechanisms does AI technology impact the functioning of democracy? To achieve this objective, the core section of the article focuses on analyzing the challenges democracy faces in the digital era. The study’s conceptual model consists of four dimensions, each identifying and analyzing the challenges AI poses to democracy. The findings indicate that while AI holds potential for enhancing democratic performance, it also harbors challenges and threats that could ultimately lead to the distortion of democracy. The primary challenges AI presents to democracy include the manipulation of public opinion, the distortion of the public information environment, the digital divide and the expansion of inequality and discrimination, and, ultimately, the risk of autocracy and totalitarianism. These challenges interact in a systematic manner, reinforcing one another. Among them, the overarching challenge for democracy is the threat of totalitarianism, which emerges as a consequence of the other three challenges. The theoretical framework of the study draws on contemporary critical theory perspectives that examine the dominative effects of technology in modern society. The research adopts an explanatory (causal-inquiry) approach, employing qualitative data analysis and a library-based method for data collection.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, democracy, privacy, totalitarianism, cognitive manipulation.
Introduction
The complexity and widespread applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have positioned our world on the brink of an “algorithmic governance” era. Recent advancements in AI technology have facilitated its extensive use across various political, social, and economic domains. AI is being widely applied in recommendation systems, customer service platforms, search engines, medical diagnostics, logistics, finance, voice and speech recognition, predictive market analysis, music production, and content generation. In smart cities, specialized AI analyzes real-time traffic data and designs and implements service delivery models. Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services may soon allow people to easily use AI-based websites and applications. These advancements have made it increasingly important to understand the economic, social, and political implications of this technology. Although many of the applications and effects of AI are future-oriented, it is essential for scholars to engage early in the discussion and evaluate its consequences. A meaningful assessment of AI's social and political impacts requires special attention to how AI affects political competition and the functioning of democracy.
Research Conceptual Model:
The purpose of this paper is to address the mentioned research gap and, within this framework, to answer the followingresearch question: What are the impacts of AI advancements on democratic functioning? The hypothesis explored in this paper is that the development of AI presents some challenges and threats that could lead to the distortion of democracy and the rise of totalitarian regimes. In this hypothesis, the independent variable is the uncontrolled development of AI technologies, while the dependent variable is the crisis of democracy and the rise of new totalitarianism. To test this hypothesis, based on existing evidence and philosophical insights, several fundamental challenges to democracy in the digital age were identified. These challenges are classified and examined within a conceptual model at four levels include the cognitive, social communications, economic, and political levels. At the cognitive level, the challenge is the manipulation of public opinion; at the social communications level, the challenge is the distortion of the informational environment; at the economic level, the challenge is the expansion of inequality and discrimination; and finally, at the political level, the danger of autocracy and totalitarianism.
Theoretical Framework:
In parallel with the growing application of technology in contemporary life, a group of theorists, at the intersection of the philosophy of technology, political philosophy, and sociology, has critiqued the oppressive effects of technology in modern society. Among the most prominent theorists in this group are Lewis Mumford, Martin Heidegger, Jacques Ellul, Yuval Noah Harari, and, specifically, the later thinkers of the Frankfurt School. In this study, these theories are classified at the name of “new theories of the critical school” and applied as the theoretical framework for the research. These theories have allowed us to argue that the future of democracy is severely threatened by modern technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Discussion and Results:
With the development of AI technology, some optimistic thinkers have proposed that the modern world is closer than ever to realizing the ideal of direct democracy. Their argument is that AI-based digital infrastructures could herald the revival of Athenian direct democracy, thereby bridging the gap between the government and society that has expanded due to population growth and the complexity of social life. Through this process, a bloated and distant government could transform into an agile and community-connected government. Despite these optimistic possibilities, we must not allow our thinking to be guided by such perspectives and fall easily for utopian narratives about AI-driven democratic progress. In this context, this paper attempts to answer this question: What are the challenges AI poses for advancing democracy in the digital age? The findings of the research reveal a system of AI challenges for democracy, in which each challenge is tightly and systematically connected to the others. In other words, the expansion of any one challenge tends to reproduce others. These challenges include:
- Mental Manipulation: Manipulating of public opinion is one of the fundamental challenges of AI in democracies. By utilizing AI and tools like computational propaganda, powerful groups and governments can steer public opinion in a manipulated direction. Tools such as social media bots or fake accounts can disseminate specific political messages and even automatically engage in online discussions to exert significant influence on political trends.
- Distortion of the Public Informational Environment: Democracies require a healthy and trustworthy public sphere for exchanging information; however, AI, in collaboration with digital media and personalization algorithms, has facilitated the spread of fake news, undermining this sphere. With the rise of social media and digital platforms, access to information is increasingly influenced by digital patterns, leading to the spread of misleading information and deepfakes, eroding public trust, and diminishing the quality of political decision-making.
- Reproducing Inequality and Discrimination: Another major challenge of AI in democracies is the risk of increasing inequality and discrimination. AI may exacerbate social biases embedded in data and algorithms. These biases could lead to certain social groups being excluded from the benefits of new technologies and facing discrimination in areas such as social rights, police or judicial decision-making. These issues could amplify existing inequalities and weaken the principles of social justice in democracies.
- The Rise of Totalitarianism: the main challenge to democracy is the risk of totalitarianism, which is being enhanced in the digital age through AI technologies. Totalitarian regimes involve pervasive intervention in all aspects of people's lives, political repression, censorship, and mass surveillance. Digital technologies now provide new tools for surveillance and mental manipulation, which could reinforce totalitarianism. AI, as one of these technologies, not only assists autocratic rulers in election rigging, misinformation spread, and suppressing opposition, but also creates the potential for surveillance and total control over individuals. AI could thus become a tool for new forms of totalitarianism, where individuals are constantly at risk of hacking and manipulation. Thus, it could be argued that AI is becoming a "Leviathan" of new totalitarianism.
Referring to Hannah Arendt's philosophy help us to understand how AI could become politically problematic. Arendt believed that totalitarianism arises in the absence of political action, which requires cooperation, solidarity, trust, collective action, and an escape from isolation. AI's functioning has the potential to eliminate the grounds for political action. For instance, consider how social media creates public anxiety, which could lead to tribalism. We are constantly bombarded with bad news and sensationalized stories, leading us to trust only the information from our own “tribal” group, reinforced by echo chambers and cognitive bubbles. Additionally, when Arendt argues that Nazi concentration camps transformed people into mere objects through controlled scientific methods, one can consider how AI-driven behavioral manipulation might have a similar moral impact, reducing people to entities ready to be hacked.
Investment in AI helps authoritarian governments enhance state capacities at the cost of individual freedoms. A clear example is China, which uses AI-derived data for social planning and control. Moreover, AI's military and security applications are rapidly expanding. The European Union, the United States, China, and Russia all recognize AI as a strategic geopolitical and economic domain. For instance, Russia has prioritized the use of AI for optimizing military and intelligence systems as part of its bid to become a global AI leader. However, the normative role and practical implications of AI in this domain remain highly contested. The global AI race presents serious risks for international peace and security, especially as AI capabilities of autocratic states and malicious actors like cybercriminals can be used for nefarious purposes.
Conclusion:
Based on the analysis presented, AI technology, while promising improvements to democracy and facilitating communication between governments and citizens, also carries serious threats to democratic advancement. Challenges such as the manipulation of public opinion, the distortion of the informational environment, the Reproducing social inequalities, and the risk of digital totalitarianism could pose significant threats to the stability of democracies. Thus, we must avoid overly optimistic and utopian views that consider AI as a tool for achieving perfect democracy and instead focus on the challenges and risks it entails.
As these challenges are systematically interconnected, policymakers and democratic advocates must monitor and regulate the development of these technologies, ensuring that AI supports democratic principles and human rights rather than undermining them. In this regard, AI governance becomes essential. AI governance must ensure that the dynamics of AI applications and their effects on democracy are continuously evaluated and controlled. The analysis of AI's impact on democracy depends on the characteristics of the AI in question, its application conditions, and the diverse forms of democracy interacting with AI.
As a suggestion, scholars in the social sciences should treat AI as an influential variable in contemporary democratic analysis and address the internal mechanisms and specific effects of this technology. Meanwhile, AI specialists must also consider the consequences of AI's development for democracy. Evaluations solely relying on technological mechanisms risk overstating AI's impact on social systems, while sociological insights alone may misrepresent AI's actual functions. This issue elevates the study of AI’s impact on democracy to a crucial interdisciplinary task within academic circles.
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