An enormous impact of AI on democratic politics is obvious today. Without advanced data processing tools, companies like Cambridge Analytica would not be able to micro-target political advertisement. Without deep learning technologies, the creation of political deepfake videos would not be possible. And without an access to large quantities of user data, political “Big Nudging” would not be taking place.
My sense is that those – and many other – examples of using AI in politics should be perceived not merely as threats to democratic values, but rather as impulses, indicating a need to rethink the democratic values themselves. In my reserach I try to do exactly that, asking questions about human autonomy, agency and freedom in the context of transformative AI.