AI: Supporting Citizen Engagement in the Modern Era
By Erzsébet Ábrám
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth”, famously pronounced Abraham Lincoln on 19 November 1863. Looking at today’s landscape, I am asking: what happened to this noble thought?
In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln expressed the true essence of democracy simply and clearly: it is up to the people. An ideal government should be formed and guided by the people, while also serving them. Thus, it is a logical conclusion that true democracy cannot work without civic engagement; yet, today, so many civilians are not taking part in its shaping. According to Phil Parvin’s 2018 publication, political participation in democratic states, such as the United States and United Kingdom, is broadly in decline. There are surely different reasons behind this behavior, such as lack of resources and motivation among citizens or an inability to participate due to regulations. The situation can be changed, however, and artificial intelligence may well provide the means to do so.
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role in improving efficiency and transparency in both private and public sectors, offering new opportunities in governance and civic engagement. It can challenge traditional notions of civic participation in politics, creating new ways to engage. In short, it has the potential to revolutionize public administration and help create a society where the citizens are more active and involved.
In Estonia, known as the ‘digital republic’, AI-driven initiatives like e-Estonia have transformed numerous public services. One prominent example is e-Residency, a government-issued digital ID that allows anyone in the world to start and manage a global business within Estonia’s borders. This demonstrates AI’s capability to promote civic engagement efficiently and inclusively. A similar transformation is currently underway within the European Union, with the introduction of digital citizenship, named European Digital Identity. The concept is being implemented because a secure European e-identity that is recognized anywhere in the EU gives control to the users over the extent to which they share their data, operating via digital wallets available on mobile phone apps and other devices. These services could be complemented with other AI-based solutions to engage more citizens in shaping Europe’s future. But in what areas can AI actually make a difference when it comes to civic engagement and why is it important for us to recognize it?
- Political Knowledge
Governments around the world are increasingly turning to AI to promote transparency in the public sphere. AI is being employed to increase both political knowledge among citizens and public sector accountability. For example, by providing real-time access to government expenditure and improving budget transparency, citizens can streamline government processes and better understand how their taxes are being spent. Moreover, AI-driven systems like chatbots and virtual assistants are being used to enhance government accessibility through communication between citizens and governmental players, such as politicians, departments and governmental institutions. This allows citizens to ask questions and receive immediate responses relating to their matters including taxation, healthcare, and education; increasing engagement and accessibility.
We can return to Estonia for a good example of such developments. In 2019, Estonians implemented the Kratt strategy and created a virtual assistant named Bürokratt. The AI-based virtual assistant connects citizens with public authorities to access information directly through chatbot services. Thanks to this implementation, they can access information and data without any major obstacles. Beyond, Finland also uses AI to improve budget transparency, giving citizens real-time access to government expenditure.
2. Empowerment and Trust Building
Another reason to use AI in politics is to improve communication with citizens, bridging the gap between people and their representatives, fostering better engagement and transparency in political processes. Through AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, real-time interaction between citizens and the government is facilitated, allowing prompt responses to queries. This not only increases engagement but also enables citizens to make more informed decisions, particularly during elections, provided they are shielded from disinformation. Campaigners can develop apps aimed at boosting voter turnout or use social media platforms to personalize fully-informed content delivery, especially among younger generations like Gen Y and Z. Governments can further improve public communication by implementing live chat services to connect the public with various departments and services efficiently.
The Estonian Bürokratt, for example, guides citizens through any interaction they have with the government. The virtual assistant helps people answer questions regarding their everyday life; thereby creating a seemingly more personal relationship between decision-makers and citizens. This personalized approach not only streamlines access to information but also cultivates a sense of trust and engagement between citizens and their representatives, thereby promoting a more active involvement in civic affairs.
3. Involvement in Decision-making
Artificial intelligence can play a significant role in amplifying citizen voices in decision-making processes. By employing advanced technologies, governments can better integrate citizen input into actionable decision-making, leading to improved responsiveness and more equitable outcomes. This can help fill in the gap between what the people actually want and need, and what the government wants, bringing them into common ground.
The Consul Democracy platform, used in more than 300 cities and organizations globally, is a great example for effective implementation of how to involve more citizens in decision-making processes. It utilizes machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques to enable citizens to submit proposals for policies and collaborate with others to refine and select the most relevant.
However, it would be too good to be true if there were no negative scenarios. One of the most frequently mentioned is that the use of AI can lead to increased social inequalities, rather than greater democracy, if not managed properly. AI can easily contribute to the spread of misinformation and manipulation of the public opinion through deepfakes, micro-targeting and algorithmic curation. Representatives can also use AI in political campaigns for spreading false information, damaging trust between government and citizens. However, it is better to solve these problems than quietly watch people slowly withdraw more and more from politics. While AI presents challenges to democracy by enabling the spread of misinformation and manipulation, it also offers tools to detect and counteract these issues. Research indicates that a combination of AI technology, regulatory measures, and changes to online platforms’ underlying business models may be more effective facing the stemming decline of democratic participation than allowing a withdrawal from political engagement. The solution to AI-driven misinformation is not straightforward, but a multifaceted approach that itself harnesses AI seems to be a necessary path forward. For example, the NAACP formulated three recommendations on how to develop transparency standards, protect voter privacy, and combat misinformation.
Addressing fake news and manipulation requires a multidisciplinary effort. Alongside the technical implications and security processes to combat misinformation, for a long-lasting and true democracy people need to understand these AI-based tools and master how to use them wisely. Thus, civic education on politics and AI is a necessary complement to AI’s increasing employment by governments and educational systems, as research demonstrates its beneficial effects on political engagement, especially at the local level.
The future intersection of AI and political engagement is unpredictable. However, one thing is for sure: its evolution is up to us. As with every revolution, AI has already started to deeply change all facets of our lives, including us: the way we think, feel, and see the world. With the help of AI, we can deliver on the promise of a government of the future that is more responsive and leaves no one behind. Where the government is formed of the people, by the people, for the people.
Erzsébet Ábrám is a 2023–24 European Horizons Transatlantic Fellow pursuing a Bachelor’s in Psychology at ELTE PPK and studying Economics at MCC. Keen to understand how the world functions, Erzsébet has a strong interest in public policy and is actively seeking opportunities to help individuals and society.
