Crowdsourcing Democracy? Trends, Potentials, and Risks of AI-assisted Digital Tools for Participation

TY - ABST

T1 - Crowdsourcing Democracy? Trends, Potentials, and Risks of AI-assisted Digital Tools for Participation

AU - Hallin, Carina Antonia

AU - Kragh, Gitte

AU - Boucher, Stephen

AU - Tjelle Holm, Niels-Kristian

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Practitioners hold a considerable responsibility in facilitating just and democratic deliberative processes. Methodological choices matter and practitioners need to tailor each project to its relevant context and expected outcomes. COVID-19 pushed many of us further into the realm of digital participation tools or civic tech. While restrictions from the pandemic are widely disappearing in Europe, civic tech has come to stay. Harnessing the joint power of collective intelligence and Artificial Intelligence, civic tech promises to provide policy makers with new insights, with larger numbers of participants, and far beyond what we are accustomed to. Following the publication of The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy & Governance, three of its key authors will share some of the key principles, examples of recent developments and stimulating insights into what the future entails for the sector. Civic tech clearly has its merits, however, no tool should be perceived as completely neutral in deliberative processes. Especially tools based on AI may come with biases that are important to be mindful of. During and following the presentation, participants will use a digital tool for participation to reflect on merits and risks of civic tech. In a digital co-creative manner, we will develop key lessons for practitioners and policymakers on the use of civic tech in deliberative processes. Participants will leave the workshop with knowledge and critical reflections on the power new tools hold in a democratic society

AB - Practitioners hold a considerable responsibility in facilitating just and democratic deliberative processes. Methodological choices matter and practitioners need to tailor each project to its relevant context and expected outcomes. COVID-19 pushed many of us further into the realm of digital participation tools or civic tech. While restrictions from the pandemic are widely disappearing in Europe, civic tech has come to stay. Harnessing the joint power of collective intelligence and Artificial Intelligence, civic tech promises to provide policy makers with new insights, with larger numbers of participants, and far beyond what we are accustomed to. Following the publication of The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy & Governance, three of its key authors will share some of the key principles, examples of recent developments and stimulating insights into what the future entails for the sector. Civic tech clearly has its merits, however, no tool should be perceived as completely neutral in deliberative processes. Especially tools based on AI may come with biases that are important to be mindful of. During and following the presentation, participants will use a digital tool for participation to reflect on merits and risks of civic tech. In a digital co-creative manner, we will develop key lessons for practitioners and policymakers on the use of civic tech in deliberative processes. Participants will leave the workshop with knowledge and critical reflections on the power new tools hold in a democratic society

KW - Citizen science

KW - Crowdsourcing

KW - Democracy

KW - Participatory science

KW - AI

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - Democracy R&D Annual Conference 2023

Y2 - 4 October 2023 through 5 October 2023

ER -