🏛️ AI and Democracy: Four Ways Tech Is Quietly Strengthening Democracies Around the World
- NewBits Media
- Nov 23
- 3 min read
A new Guardian analysis highlights a counter-narrative to the fear that AI will weaken democracy. While risks remain real, researchers Nathan E. Sanders and Bruce Schneier argue that AI can also distribute power, amplify civic engagement, and make democratic systems more efficient—if deployed responsibly.
Here are four real-world examples showing how AI is being used to strengthen, not undermine, democracy—and what that tells us about the evolving relationship between AI and democracy.
Japan: AI-Powered Political Engagement
🤖 AI Campaign Assistants: Independent candidate Takahiro Anno rose from obscurity by deploying an authorized AI avatar that answered 8,600 voter questions on a nonstop YouTube livestream.
📈 Major Outcome: Two months ago, he was elected to Japan’s upper house—after using AI again to answer 20,000+ constituent questions.
🌐 Civic Tech Innovation: His new party, Team Mirai, is building the Mirai Assembly app, letting voters express opinions on legislation, while AI organizes and elevates public questions directly into committee hearings.
Brazil: AI to Reduce Judicial Backlogs
⚖️ A Litigation-Heavy System: Brazil’s courts handle staggering volumes of cases, costing the government billions annually.
🛠️ AI Efficiency Boost: Since 2019, the judiciary has adopted AI for routing cases, transcribing hearings, clustering similar filings, and drafting initial orders.
📉 Big Result: The Supreme Court’s backlog hit a 33-year low in 2025.
🔄 But There’s a Twist: Litigators now use AI too—with new case volume up nearly 40% over five years. Researchers argue this is healthy democratic pressure, enabling citizens to hold government accountable.
Germany: AI Tools Helping Voters Make Informed Choices
📊 Wahl-o-Mat Legacy: Germany’s nonpartisan voting guide has educated voters since 2002.
💬 New AI Innovations: Tools like Wahlweise and Wahl.chat allow voters to converse with AI systems that explain party positions in context—used by over 150,000 people.
⚠️ Accuracy Concerns: Researchers warn of bias and hallucinations and are calling for scientific auditing similar to the official Wahl-o-Mat standards.
United States: AI Supercharging Watchdog Journalism
📰 CalMatters’ Digital Democracy Project: Tracks every speech, vote, social post, and campaign contribution of California officials.
🔍 New “AI Tip Sheets”: Uses AI to detect anomalies—like sudden voting shifts after major donations—and flags them for journalists.
👥 Human + AI, Not Human vs. AI: Reporters then investigate, preserving the watchdog function at a time when newsrooms face major economic decline.
🌟 AI and Democracy: Why It’s Important
These examples show AI distributing power, not just concentrating it:
Empowering voters
Reducing government bottlenecks
Increasing transparency
Strengthening political participation
Enhancing oversight of elected officials
They highlight a key principle: AI and democracy work best together when AI assists people, not replaces them.
But the authors also warn that democracies must stop relying solely on proprietary AI from big tech. Instead, they push for “public AI”—open, transparent, democratically governed models.
Switzerland’s new fully open-source model Apertus is one of the strongest examples of this approach.
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