Dear friends,
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others,” said Winston Churchill. Last week’s shocking attempt to assassinate former President Trump was a reminder that democracy is fragile.
Democracy lets citizens argue with each other via words and votes. While imperfect, it is a powerful force for making sure that people are governed by leaders of their own choosing, and that these leaders are accountable to making people better off.
That’s why attempts to disrupt the democratic process, such as assassinating a political candidate or attempting to disrupt a peaceful handover of power to a newly elected government, are despicable: They attack a fundamental mechanism for giving everyone a chance to have a say in who governs. I denounce all political violence and grieve for Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the assassination attempt, and for his family. I hope for a quick recovery for former President Trump and the bystanders who were injured. I also hope we can put more resources into strengthening the mechanisms of democracy.
In addition, I wonder what role AI can play in preserving democracy.
Technology can have positive or negative impacts on specific mechanisms of democracy. For instance, data analysis can help citizens and reporters discover facts. Micro-targeting of political ads and social media can increase polarization, while social media can also provide useful information to voters.
But zooming out to a macro view,
- Concentration of power, which is enhanced by concentration of access to technology, tends to make a subset of society more powerful at the expense of the whole and thus weakens democracy. For example, if only major political parties have the resources to place highly targeted voter ads, it’s hard for new parties to break in.
- However, widespread access to new technologies tends to make everyone more powerful, and thus strengthens democracy. For example, widespread access to smartphones, web search, and now large language model chatbots broadens access to information and lets each individual do more. Thus, I believe spreading new technology as far and wide as possible is an important way to strengthen democracy.
I’m glad last week’s assassination attempt failed, just as I’m glad the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol failed. Both events were close calls and resulted in tragic loss of human life. Looking into the future, in addition to specific applications that strengthen elements of democracy, I hope we keep on promoting widespread access to technology. This will enhance fairness and the ability of individuals to vote wisely. That’s why democratizing access to technology will help democracy itself.
Keep learning!
Andrew