Article by by Rahmin Sarabi: “Across the United States, democracy faces mounting challenges from polarization, public distrust, and increasingly complex societal challenges. Traditional systems of civic participation—and the broader foundations of democratic governance—have struggled to adapt as media and electoral incentives increasingly reward outrage over understanding.
Despite these challenges, new possibilities are emerging. Artificial intelligence—specifically large language models (LLMs)—is beginning to serve as a transformative tool for public engagement and policymaking, led by innovative governments and civic institutions.
When used thoughtfully, LLMs can help unlock public wisdom, rebuild trust, and enable better decisionmaking—not by replacing human judgment, but by strengthening it. This promise doesn’t dismiss the serious concerns about AI’s impact on social cohesion, work, and democracy—which remain vital to address. Yet these emerging capabilities can enhance both institutional efficiency and, more importantly, core democratic values: inclusiveness, meaningful participation, and deliberative reasoning.
By strengthening these foundations, AI can enable the collaborative problem-solving today’s interconnected problems demand and help us renew democracy to meet the challenges of our time. This piece examines concrete applications where LLM-based AI is already enhancing democratic processes—from citizen engagement to survey and context analysis—and explores principles for scaling these innovations responsibly…(More)”.
