The Promise and Peril of Artificial Intelligence
Journal of Democracy
The Journal of Democracy: The smartest analysis on democracy and authoritarianism around the world.
The 2024?International Day of Democracy?is spotlighting the potential of artificial intelligence to improve governance while also recognizing the risks it poses. Over the last year, the?Journal of Democracy has published some of the world’s leading AI experts on the promise and peril it presents for democracy.
To understand how this rapidly advancing technology can both enhance and undermine equality, security, economic well-being, and more, read the following selection of JoD essays, free for a limited time.
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.
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.
Generative?AI can flood the media, internet, and even personal correspondence with misinformation — sowing confusion for voters and government officials alike. If we fail to act, mounting mistrust will?polarize our societies and tear at our institutions.
Science fiction may soon become reality with the advent of?AI?systems that can independently pursue their own objectives. Guardrails are needed now to save us from the worst outcomes.
AI is destined to become another stage for geopolitical conflict. In this contest, autocracies have the advantage, as they vacuum up valuable data from democracies, while democracies inevitably incorporate data tainted by repression.
AI?will?transform work and entire economies. The potential benefits also bring a dire risk of rising inequality and job losses. But the worst outcomes can still be avoided.
Advances in?AI?are rapidly disrupting the foundations of?democracy?and the international order. We must reinvent our democratic infrastructure to ensure our ability to govern in a dramatically different technological world.