Misunderstanding AI’s Democracy Problem

Abstract

In recent surveys, a majority of Americans express the opinion that disinformation generated through artificial intelligence will determine the outcome of the 2024 election. Indeed, there are already thousands of examples of “deep fakes” related to the US Presidential Election, as there were for other national elections earlier this year. However, the panic over AI has proven to be more of a democracy problem than the AI-created imagery itself. This paper discusses various dimensions of AI’s “democracy problem” and the differences between this new generation of tech-related concerns and the lingering worries about social media’s impact on elections.

Details

Author(s):
Publish Date:
July, 2025
Format:
Journal Article
Citation(s):
  • Nathaniel Persily, Misunderstanding AI’s Democracy Problem, in The Digitalist Papers: Artificial Intelligence and Democracy in America 143 (Angela Aristidou, Erik Brynjolfsson, Alex Pentland, Nathaniel Persily & Condoleezza Rice eds., 2024), reprinted in 30 UCLA J.L. & Tech. 257 (2025).
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