Deliberation for polarized democracies: citizens' democracies and artificial intellegence

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Abstract

Deliberation seems capable of containing the risks of degraded public spaces that reinforce and legitimize populist, xenophobic, and authoritarian discourses. This article reflects on two current alternatives that are considered supports for improving deliberation: on the one hand, the model of mini-publics—often referred to as “citizens’ assemblies,” with participants selected by sortition—and, on the other hand, the uses of artificial intelligence in the service of deliberation. In the first case, we ask whether the citizens’ assembly model is transferable to Latin American contexts, drawing on research from the (Re)surgentes experience in the region. In the second, we explore what AI can (and cannot) do in a deliberative process, based on an experimental session carried out with the Pol.is platform and everyday generative AI tools.

Keywords:

Deliberation , Polarization , Citizens’ assemblies , Artificial Intelligence

Author Biography

Rocío Annunziata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Doctora en Études Politiques (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) y en Ciencias Sociales (Universidad de Buenos Aires). Se desempeña como Investigadora independiente del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas con sede en el Instituto de Investigaciones Políticas de la Universidad Nacional de San Martín y como profesora del Doctorado en Ciencia Política en la misma universidad.

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