University of Kwazulu-Natal

Can Democracy Survive Ai By Ian Bremmer Project Syndicate

Bonisiwe Shabane
-
can democracy survive ai by ian bremmer project syndicate

While the internet and telecommunications diffused political power, the next wave of technological innovation could have the opposite effect. If current trends in AI development and deployment continue, the openness that long gave democracies their edge might become the cause of their undoing. NEW YORK – Digital technology was supposed to disperse power. Early internet visionaries hoped that the revolution they were unleashing would empower individuals to free themselves from ignorance, poverty, and tyranny. And for a while, at least, it did. But today, ever-smarter algorithms increasingly predict and shape our every choice, enabling unprecedentedly effective forms of centralized, unaccountable surveillance and control.

That means the coming AI revolution may render closed political systems more stable than open ones. In an age of rapid change, transparency, pluralism, checks and balances, and other key democratic features could prove to be liabilities. Could the openness that long gave democracies their edge become the cause of their undoing? Two decades ago, I sketched a “J-curve” to illustrate the link between a country’s openness and its stability. My argument, in a nutshell, was that while mature democracies are stable because they are open, and consolidated autocracies are stable because they are closed, countries stuck in the messy middle (the nadir of... But this relationship isn’t static; it’s shaped by technology.

Back then, the world was riding a wave of decentralization. Information and communications technologies (ICT) and the internet were connecting people everywhere, arming them with more information than they had ever had access to, and tipping the scales toward citizens and open political systems. From the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union to the color revolutions in Eastern Europe and the Arab Spring in the Middle East, global liberalization appeared inexorable. Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below. Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Today, ever-smarter algorithms increasingly predict and shape our every choice, enabling unprecedentedly effective forms of centralized, unaccountable surveillance and control. igital technology was supposed to disperse power. Early internet visionaries hoped that the revolution they were unleashing would empower individuals to free themselves from ignorance, poverty and tyranny. And for a while, at least, it did. But today, ever-smarter algorithms increasingly predict and shape our every choice, enabling unprecedentedly effective forms of centralized, unaccountable surveillance and control. That means the coming AI revolution may render closed political systems more stable than open ones.

In an age of rapid change, transparency, pluralism, checks and balances and other key democratic features could prove to be liabilities. Could the openness that long gave democracies their edge become the cause of their undoing? Two decades ago, I sketched a “J-curve” to illustrate the link between a country’s openness and its stability. My argument, in a nutshell, was that while mature democracies are stable because they are open, and consolidated autocracies are stable because they are closed, countries stuck in the messy middle (the nadir of... As artificial intelligence continues to advance at breakneck speed and world powers vie against each other in the AI arms race, democracies are searching for ways to control a technology that is transforming our... Read the following Journal of Democracy essays from leading AI experts on the dangers that lie ahead and how we might stave off a crisis.

The Real Dangers of Generative AI Advanced AI faces twin perils: the collapse of democratic control over key state functions or the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of the few. Avoiding these risks will require new ways of governing. Danielle Allen and E. Glen Weyl AI and Catastrophic Risk AI with superhuman abilities could emerge within the next few years, and there is currently no guarantee that we will be able to control them. We must act now to protect democracy, human rights, and our very existence.

Yoshua Bengio How AI Threatens Democracy Generative AI can flood the media, internet, and even personal correspondence, sowing confusion for voters and government officials alike. If we fail to act, mounting mistrust will polarize our societies and tear at our institutions. Sarah Kreps and Doug Kriner AI and data centralisation empower closed regimes, threatening democracies’ stability. Early internet’s decentralisation reversed by surveillance and algorithm-driven control.

Open-source AI efforts offer hope to restore power balance amid rising authoritarianism. Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here. Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.

Gina Neff is Professor of Responsible AI at the Digital Environment Research Institute at Queen Mary University London (United Kingdom) and Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of... This essay examines the fundamental tension between artificial intelligence technologies and democratic governance, arguing that AI’s inherent tendencies toward centralization and control pose significant challenges to democratic societies. Drawing on science and technology studies and critical analyses of technological politics, I argue that current AI implementations embody four key anti-democratic characteristics: they represent powerful technologies of centralization and control; they fuel ideologies... The analysis synthesizes historical parallels between computing and control, contemporary developments in AI infrastructure, and emerging policy frameworks to demonstrate how AI’s technical architecture and commercial implementation systematically undermine democratic values of transparency, accountability,... Through examination of recent political developments and corporate practices, the essay reveals how AI’s centralization of power and erosion of public oversight threaten democratic institutions. I conclude that democracy’s survival in an AI-driven future depends on reimagining and rebuilding digital technologies with democratic accountability at their core, requiring new frameworks for public oversight and corporate governance.

Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1993). A Political and Economic Case for the Democratic Enterprise. Economics and Philosophy, 9(1), 75–100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266267100005125 Center on Organizational Innovation (COI).

Who We Are. https://coi.sociology.columbia.edu/content/who-we-are (Accessed January 1, 2025). Caro, R.A. (1974). The Power Broker. Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.

New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

People Also Search

While The Internet And Telecommunications Diffused Political Power, The Next

While the internet and telecommunications diffused political power, the next wave of technological innovation could have the opposite effect. If current trends in AI development and deployment continue, the openness that long gave democracies their edge might become the cause of their undoing. NEW YORK – Digital technology was supposed to disperse power. Early internet visionaries hoped that the r...

That Means The Coming AI Revolution May Render Closed Political

That means the coming AI revolution may render closed political systems more stable than open ones. In an age of rapid change, transparency, pluralism, checks and balances, and other key democratic features could prove to be liabilities. Could the openness that long gave democracies their edge become the cause of their undoing? Two decades ago, I sketched a “J-curve” to illustrate the link between...

Back Then, The World Was Riding A Wave Of Decentralization.

Back then, the world was riding a wave of decentralization. Information and communications technologies (ICT) and the internet were connecting people everywhere, arming them with more information than they had ever had access to, and tipping the scales toward citizens and open political systems. From the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union to the color revolutions in Eastern Europe and th...

Today, Ever-smarter Algorithms Increasingly Predict And Shape Our Every Choice,

Today, ever-smarter algorithms increasingly predict and shape our every choice, enabling unprecedentedly effective forms of centralized, unaccountable surveillance and control. igital technology was supposed to disperse power. Early internet visionaries hoped that the revolution they were unleashing would empower individuals to free themselves from ignorance, poverty and tyranny. And for a while, ...

In An Age Of Rapid Change, Transparency, Pluralism, Checks And

In an age of rapid change, transparency, pluralism, checks and balances and other key democratic features could prove to be liabilities. Could the openness that long gave democracies their edge become the cause of their undoing? Two decades ago, I sketched a “J-curve” to illustrate the link between a country’s openness and its stability. My argument, in a nutshell, was that while mature democracie...