Most Americans associate the year 1776 with the country’s independence, but a lot more happened that year. Scottish inventor Thomas Watt introduced an improved steam engine that ushered in the Industrial Revolution. Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, providing a fresh vision for economics. This convergence of transformative technological, economic, and political activity completely reshaped the way people lived, worked, and governed themselves. It was a time when leaders were reimagining the very purpose of our nascent democratic institutions and how to proceed in a way that was best for all citizens.
Almost 250 years later, we’re at a similar convergence. The introduction and rapid progression of artificial intelligence (AI) presents our society with unprecedented challenges but also opportunities that, if approached thoughtfully, could strengthen Americans’ engagement with the democratic process.
Today, we still have the power to steer AI toward beneficial outcomes. But we must act swiftly because the decisions we make today will shape the institutions that govern generations to come.
First, it’s important to frame the challenges. In 2024, much of the underlying infrastructure (our laws, institutions, policies, and systems) has not kept up with the rapidly changing technological landscape. The adoption of computation, the internet, multi-sided networks, globalization, and data-driven decision-making have catalyzed the transformation of almost every facet of our lives. And now the possibilities presented by AI will further accelerate that transformation due to its broad applications.
Currently, there is a growing gap between the technical capabilities of technologies like large language models, and what most people, including governments, actually do with them. These tools already beginning to shape our discourse and will have even more influence soon, making it crucial for us to stay actively involved in guiding their direction.
The modern-day Federalist Papers
In an effort to guide the critical decisions before us as a society, we borrowed the concept of The Federalist Papers, a series of essays written in the late 18th century that analyzed the great challenges of the day and provided a roadmap for institutional innovation for a young America. We concluded that it was time for another gathering of leading thinkers who could offer ideas about how we should approach governing in the age of AI. We asked 19 authors their thoughts and brought together their responses in a volume of essays we call The Digitalist Papers.
Unlike The Federalist Papers, we did not have a goal of persuading readers to adopt a pre-determined action (in their case, arguing for the ratification of the Constitution). Rather, our aim was to elevate the voices of varied experts who have informed and well-researched ideas and bring out a menu of solutions across a range of related topics. Authors represent diverse fields—including economics, law, technology, management, and political science—along with leaders from industry and civil society.
This matters because the thoughtful examination of AI-enabled developments in relation to our institutions requires us to turn the spotlight on those institutions and ask whether they remain fit for purpose in all respects, and or if they can benefit from AI or other changes. This is a daunting exploration that demands deep domain expertise and collaboration across academic disciplines.
(One final thing worth noting: Authors did not see each other’s work before publishing.) Here’s what we learned:
- AI has the power to make governance more inclusive and technologically integrated: A group of essays urged for a significant shift in how AI intersects with the democratic process. Ideas included AI-driven collaborative governance, using AI to scale direct democracy by amplifying citizens’ voices, and using digital tools to advance hyper-local community-focused engagement.
- AI is forcing us to rethink how we organize our government: Some authors focused on how our government’s failure to deliver the services its citizens have come to expect will lead to civic disengagement, and how the adoption of AI—as well as broader adoption of technology focused on meeting citizens’ needs—can help reinstill faith that government is for the people.
- The regulation of AI is arguably more important than the tech itself: Three authors focused on the role of regulation, stating that the processes by which we currently regulate don’t stand up to something as dynamic and transformative as AI, that we might be exaggerating on AI’s impact on information and thereby undermining trust in all media, regardless of its accuracy.
Given the broad spectrum of perspectives, at times the authors offered conflicting ideas and differing approaches. That is by design. But the bedrock of every essay was that democracy and AI can and should work well together; that our democratic institutions can be renewed and reinvented for the AI era.
A technology as fast-changing as AI requires nimbleness, keeping an open mind, and the continual engagement of a diverse group of leaders to debate and guide the technology. It’s not inevitable that AI will lead to more freedom and participation in democracy. If left unchecked, there’s a chance AI would change how we govern in ways the Founding Fathers might have found abhorrent. Therefore, it is our responsibility to approach these urgent questions with the conviction that we have the agency to change it.
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