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An Agenda to Strengthen U.S. Democracy in the Age of AI
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High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
Rating inherited from publication venue: Brennan Center for Justice
Published by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute; relevant for wiki users interested in democratic governance of AI and civil liberties implications of AI deployment in public sector contexts.
Metadata
Importance: 42/100policy briefanalysis
Summary
The Brennan Center for Justice outlines a policy agenda addressing how artificial intelligence threatens democratic institutions, electoral integrity, and civil liberties in the United States. The report proposes concrete legislative and regulatory reforms to ensure AI deployment in civic and government contexts is accountable and transparent. It focuses on protecting voting rights, preventing government surveillance misuse, and ensuring democratic oversight of AI systems.
Key Points
- •AI poses specific threats to democratic processes including disinformation, voter suppression tools, and manipulation of public opinion at scale.
- •Proposes regulatory frameworks requiring transparency and accountability when AI is used in government decision-making affecting citizens.
- •Calls for restrictions on law enforcement use of AI tools like facial recognition that disproportionately harm marginalized communities.
- •Advocates for congressional action to update election laws and civil rights protections to address AI-enabled threats.
- •Emphasizes that democratic legitimacy requires human oversight and meaningful public participation in AI governance decisions.
1 FactBase fact citing this source
| Entity | Property | Value | As Of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brennan Center for Justice | publication | Published 'Agenda to Strengthen U.S. Democracy in the Age of AI' with federal and state policy recommendations | 2025 |
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An Agenda to Strengthen U.S. Democracy in the Age of AI | Brennan Center for Justice
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An Agenda to Strengthen U.S. Democracy in the Age of AI
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Highlights
Without proper safeguards and reforms, artificial intelligence can disenfranchise voters and amplify threats to electoral integrity.
Policymakers need to minimize the dangers of AI and implement standards to improve efficiency, responsiveness, and accountability for public servants using the technology.
Those who profit from AI must meet transparency requirements and be held accountable when these tools are used to undermine democratic processes.
The year 2024 began with bold predictions about how the United States would see its first artificial intelligence (AI) election. 1 Commentators worried that generative AI — a branch of AI that can create new images, audio, video, and text — could produce deepfakes that would so inundate users of social media that they would be unable to separate truth from fiction when making voting decisions. 2 Meanwhile, some self-labeled techno-optimists proselytized how AI could revolutionize voter outreach and fundraising, thereby leveling the playing field for campaigns that otherwise could not afford expensive political consultants and staff. 3
As the election played out, AI was employed in numerous ways: Foreign adversaries used the technology to augment their election interference by creating copycat news sites filled with what appeared to be AI-generated fake stories. 4 Campaigns leveraged deepfake technology to convincingly imitate politicians and produce misleading advertisements. 5 Activists deployed AI systems to support voter suppression efforts. 6 Candidates and supporters used AI tools to build political bot networks, translate materials, design eye-catching memes, and assist in voter outreach. 7 And election officials experimented with AI to draft social media content and provide voters with important information like polling locations and hours of operation. 8 Of course, AI likely was also used during this election in ways that have not yet come into focus and may only be revealed months or even years from now.
Were the fears and promises overhyped? Yes and no. It would be a stretch to claim that AI transformed U.S. elections last year to either effect, and the worst-case scenarios did not come to pass. 9 But AI did play a role that few could have imagined a mere two years ago, and a review of that role offers some important clues as to how, as the technology becomes even more sophisticated and wi
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