Generative Artificial Intelligence is potentially the most disruptive technology of this century. AI impacts upon our individual intellectual and creative capacity, and is capable of transforming how businesses, institutions and whole economies and societies will operate.
21st Century Democracy? Artificial Intelligence and Public Policy
This paper considers how AI has profound implications for democracy.
It is not yet clear whether AI will serve primarily to inform people with access to intelligence that was once the privilege of the few, or on the contrary, be a principal tool of undermining democratic participation.
What future for democracy in the era of Artificial Intelligence? Undoubtedly the rapid advance of AI will have just as profound an impact upon public policy and administration as it will on the market sector.
What needs to be worked through is how AI will be adopted in the public sector, what the barriers will there be to integration, and the impact on existing processes and routines.
Already the rigid controls, formal processes and central control of public administration have changed under the impact of digital technologies, but the potential of AI for transformation of the public sector is far greater.
- AI’s advances – particularly in the field of machine learning – are creating opportunities for the application of AI systems to many tasks within public organizations and to complex public decision-making processes.
- AI’s ability to partly automate human decision-making and reduce human agency can change the legitimacy, transparency and accountability of public organizations and raise legal and ethical issues.
- The potential of AI technology for the erosion of democratic discourse is very real. Generative AI has the capacity to flood the media, internet, and direct messages with misinformation, polarizing the population and undermining democratic institutions.
- Misinformation micro-targeted to specific demographics may further erode the basis of understanding and trust in the democratic process. Confronted by increasing amounts of manipulating misinformation the whole basis of trust in democratically elected governments can be undermined.
But AI is here and cannot be ignored by public sector bodies, nor should it be regarded as something transcendental that has to be accepted as a solution to all organisational problems in all circumstances (as tech companies often like to convey).
- Selective and appropriate applications of AI will be required to enhance public sector performance. Innovation silos, lack of organizational alignment, and lack of expertise will need to be remedied.
- A coherent vision of the potential of AI in public policy is necessary, with boundary spanning across technical and operational departments, and continuous integration of knowledge into operational capabilities.
Everyone will benefit from a smarter and better-informed public sector.
Dr Thomas Clarke
Occasional Policy Paper 3 - Published May 2024
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Dr Thomas Clarke is a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at UTS. Dr Clarke is an international corporate governance and sustainability expert and Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He contributed to the development of international corporate governance standards at the OECD during the original formulation of the OECD Corporate Governance Principles (1999) and for the UN delivered a research paper on Sustainable Finance (2016) for the UNEP Finance Initiative.
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