AI is projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030 (PwC), making it one of the most transformative technologies of the 21st century. It is redefining how democracies function – reshaping public discourse, electoral behaviour, and governance mechanisms.
Transformative opportunities of AI for Democracy:
1. Enhancing Accessibility and Inclusion:
- AI-driven translation tools such as Bhashini (India) enable speech-to-speech translation across Indian languages, expanding democratic participation.
- For e.g., the SUVAS system in the Supreme Court uses AI for translating judgments, improving access to justice.
2. Proactive Governance:
- AI enables predictive governance across sectors such as public health alerts, infrastructure risk assessment.
- For e.g., Taiwan’s Polis platform uses AI to identify consensus statements in public consultations, strengthening deliberative democracy.
3. Electoral Integrity:
- AI tools help in electoral roll purification and detecting duplicate voters.
- AI-enabled cybersecurity strengthens protection of voter databases against cyber threats.
Serious risks due to AI for democratic systems:
1. Infodemic:
- Generative AI enables hyper-realistic fake videos and audio undermining trust in democratic discourse.
- For e.g., in recent elections such as Slovakia 2023 and India, AI-generated content was used to influence voters shortly before polling.
2. Political Manipulation:
- AI analyses voter behaviour and delivers hyper-personalized political ads eroding informed consent and voter autonomy
- For e.g., the Cambridge Analytica episode highlighted how data profiling can distort electoral choice.
3. Algorithmic Bias:
- AI systems trained on biased data can replicate social prejudices reinforcing structural inequality.
- For e.g., Risk assessment tools in some jurisdictions have shown bias against minorities.
4. Mass Surveillance:
- AI-powered facial recognition and CCTV analytics can track individuals at scale.
- Excessive surveillance may chill free speech and peaceful assembly threatening constitutional freedoms under Articles 19 and 21.
Mitigating the negative implications:
1. Rights-Based AI Regulation:
- Enact a standalone AI law with clear definitions and liability standards.
- Adopt a risk-based approach, similar to the EU AI Act, imposing stricter compliance for high-risk AI systems.
2. Algorithmic transparency:
- Mandate Algorithmic Impact Assessments (AIAs) for high-stakes domains such as elections, policing, and credit.
- Encourage independent third-party audits to detect bias and discrimination.
3. Content Authentication:
- Introduce digital watermarking and content provenance standards.
- Strengthen IT Rules to require labelling of synthetic content.
4. Strengthening institutional capacity:
- Build AI expertise within regulators such as RBI, SEBI, and MeitY and establish a central nodal AI authority for coordinated governance.
Conclusion:
AI can either fortify or fracture democracy. A balanced framework grounded in constitutional values of transparency, accountability, and human dignity is essential to ensure that AI strengthens rather than subverts democratic systems.
‘+1’ Value Addition:
- UNESCO AI Ethics Recommendation (2021), adopted by 193 countries, including India, emphasizing human rights and transparency.
- According to the World Economic Forum (Global Risks Report 2024), AI-driven misinformation is among the top short-term global risks (2024–26).
- The US-based COMPAS risk assessment tool was found to disproportionately classify African American defendants as high-risk.
- Estonia’s AI Judge Experiment reduced small-claims case backlog while retaining human appellate oversight.
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