Can Democracy Survive AI?
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 anal...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Bologna
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Sociologica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/21108 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832590562306293760 |
|---|---|
| author | Gina Neff |
| author_facet | Gina Neff |
| author_sort | Gina Neff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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 of unchecked economic growth; they prioritize efficiency over accountability; and they enable absolute control coupled with unaccountable power. 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, and public participation. 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb474aa8a28d495bab8996c5493dcb17 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1971-8853 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Bologna |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociologica |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb474aa8a28d495bab8996c5493dcb172025-01-23T13:04:34ZengUniversity of BolognaSociologica1971-88532025-01-0118313714610.6092/issn.1971-8853/2110819484Can Democracy Survive AI?Gina Neff0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9090-924XQueen Mary University London; Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, University of CambridgeThis 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 of unchecked economic growth; they prioritize efficiency over accountability; and they enable absolute control coupled with unaccountable power. 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, and public participation. 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.https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/21108aiscience and technology studieseconomic sociologytechnologytheory |
| spellingShingle | Gina Neff Can Democracy Survive AI? Sociologica ai science and technology studies economic sociology technology theory |
| title | Can Democracy Survive AI? |
| title_full | Can Democracy Survive AI? |
| title_fullStr | Can Democracy Survive AI? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can Democracy Survive AI? |
| title_short | Can Democracy Survive AI? |
| title_sort | can democracy survive ai |
| topic | ai science and technology studies economic sociology technology theory |
| url | https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/21108 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ginaneff candemocracysurviveai |