If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ve noticed that I have written a lot about AI and democracy, mostly with my co-author Nathan Sanders. I am pleased to announce that we’re writing a book on the topic.
This isn’t a book about deep fakes, or misinformation. This is a book about what happens when AI writes laws, adjudicates disputes, audits bureaucratic actions, assists in political strategy, and advises citizens on what candidates and issues to support. It’s a book that tries to look into what an AI-assisted democratic system might look like, and then at how to best ensure that we make use of the good parts while avoiding the bad parts.
This is what I talked about in my RSA Conference speech last month, which you can both watch and read. (You can also read earlier attempts at this idea.)
The book will be published by MIT Press sometime in fall 2025, with an open-access digital version available a year after that. (It really can’t be published earlier. Nothing published this year will rise above the noise of the US presidential election, and anything published next spring will have to go to press without knowing the results of that election.)
Right now, the organization of the book is in six parts:
AI-Assisted PoliticiansAI-Assisted LegislatorsThe AI-Assisted AdministrationThe AI-Assisted Legal SystemAI-Assisted CitizensGetting the Future We Want
It’s too early to share a more detailed table of contents, but I would like help thinking about titles. Below are my current list of brainstorming ideas: both titles and subtitles. Please mix and match, or suggest your own in the comments. No idea is too far afield, because anything can spark more ideas.
Titles:
AI and DemocracyDemocracy with AIDemocracy after AIDemocratia ex MachinaDemocracy ex MachinaE Pluribus, MachinaDemocracy and the MachinesDemocracy with MachinesBuilding Democracy with MachinesDemocracy in the LoopWe the People + AIArtificial DemocracyAI Enhanced DemocracyThe State of AICitizen AI
Trusting the BotsTrusting the ComputerTrusting the Machine
The End of the BeginningSharing PowerBetter RunSpeed, Scale, Scope, and SophisticationThe New Model of GovernanceModel CitizenArtificial Individualism
Subtitles:
How AI Upsets the Power Balances of DemocracyTwenty (or So) Ways AI will Change DemocracyReimagining Democracy for the Age of AIWho Wins and LosesHow Democracy Thrives in an AI-Enhanced WorldEnsuring that AI Enhances Democracy and Doesn’t Destroy ItHow AI Will Change Politics, Legislating, Bureaucracy, Courtrooms, and CitizensAI’s Transformation of Government, Citizenship, and Everything In-BetweenRemaking Democracy, from Voting to Legislating to Waiting in LineHow to Make Democracy Work for People in an AI FutureHow AI Will Totally Reshape Democracies and Democratic InstitutionsWho Wins and Loses when AI GovernsHow to Win and Not Lose With AI as a PartnerAI’s Transformation of Democracy, for Better and for WorseHow AI Can Improve Society and Not Destroy ItHow AI Can Improve Society and Not Subvert ItOf the People, for the People, with a Whole lot of AIHow AI Will Reshape DemocracyHow the AI Revolution Will Reshape Democracy
Combinations:
Imagining a Thriving Democracy in the Age of AI: How Technology Enhances Democratic Ideals and Nurtures a Society that Serves its People
Making Model Citizens: How to Put AI to Use to Help DemocracyModeling Citizenship: Who Wins and Who Loses when AI Transforms DemocracyA Model for Government: Democracy with AI, and How to Make it Work for Us
AI of, By, and for the People: How Artificial Intelligence will reshape DemocracyThe (AI) Political Revolution: Speed, Scale, Scope, Sophistication, and our DemocracySpeed, Scale, Scope, Sophistication: The AI Democratic RevolutionThe Artificial Political Revolution: X Ways AI will Change Democracy…Forever
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