AI, Democracy and the Law

Digital technologies are in the process of reconfiguring our democracy. While we look for orientation and guidance in this process, the relationship between technology and democracy is unclear and seems to be in f lux. Are technology and democracy mirroring each other?1 The internet was first hailed as genuinely democratic technology and ultimate enabler of democracy. It is now often perceived as a major threat to democracy. The story of artificial intelligence (AI) might turn out to be quite the opposite. While there are many ref lections on AI as a threat to or even as the end of democracy,2 some voices highlight the democratic potentials of AI.3 As is often the case, the research results depend on the premises underlying the research. This chapter is based on the assertion that technologies and media shape human affairs to a large extent, but that technology in turn is also shaped by human choices and decisions. There is a huge potential to endanger, game or even abolish democratic processes. On the contrary, there might also be opportunities to further democracy. Therefore, the extent to which AI impacts democracy is subject to the paths that are chosen in research, development and application of AI in society. The main purpose of this chapter is to highlight the room for choice in the construction of AI and its impacts on the future of democracy. It will also inquire into how law and jurisprudence relate to these questions. From this perspective, current impacts of AI on democracy have an important indicative function. But in the face of further possibilities of inventions and regulative measures on different levels, they are only precursors to what will and should be possible. In that sense, this chapter is also an attempt to deal with developments and inventions we cannot yet grasp. The main argument is that it might be possible to inf luence them nevertheless. Therefore, the chapter will ref lect on the possibility and necessity to democratize AI from a legal and jurisprudential perspective. It will then look at different ways to democratize AI.