Denizen

DemocracyNext founder and CEO Claudia Chwalisz returns to the Denizen podcast to explore the intersection of deliberative democracy and artificial intelligence.  Here we are particularly interested in how we might crease democratic resilience by leveraging AI to scale deliberative processes.  Governance innovation is the AI application we're most enthusiastic about so we're excited to bring this conversation to the Denizen audience. Claudia and Jenny discuss broader trends of rising autocracy, weakening civil societies, and attacks on basic rights, while situating deliberative democracy as a counterforce to these issues.  They explore what aspects of the deliberative process are fundamentally human, giving rise to the limitations and risks of certain applications of AI.  They also break down five different ways we can think about scaling deliberative democracy, which enables a more nuanced conversation about the opportunities AI presents.  Claudia stresses that technology is not a silver bullet, but must be integrated with the human elements of social and political change.   00:00 Introduction to the Episode 00:32 Meet Claudia Swi: Expert on Deliberative Democracy 00:43 Exploring Deliberative Democracy and AI 00:55 The Importance of Democratic Resilience 03:03 Understanding Populism and Authoritarianism 04:49 Challenges and Limitations of Representative Democracy 08:26 Defining Deliberative Democracy 09:49 The Role of Sortition in Deliberative Processes 13:54 In-Person vs. Virtual Deliberative Processes 23:13 The Human Element in Deliberative Democracy 31:23 How AI Can Support Deliberative Structures 35:18 Exploring Tech-Enabled Trackers and Feedback Loops 35:56 Understanding the Lifecycle of Deliberative Processes 36:27 Defining and Breaking Down 'Scale' in AI and Democracy 37:08 The Five Dimensions of Scaling in Deliberative Democracy 37:19 Scaling Out: Increasing Participation in Deliberative Processes 40:29 AI's Role in Scaling Out and Up 46:24 Scaling Across: Spreading Deliberative Processes 49:37 Scaling Deep: Institutionalizing Deliberative Processes 52:45 Scaling In: Enhancing Quality and Impact 59:56 The Broader Implications of AI and Deliberative Democracy 01:06:03 Concluding Thoughts and Future Directions   Resources: DemocracyNext: https://www.demnext.org/Five Dimensions of Scaling Democratic Deliberation: With and Beyond AIThe Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change, Claudia ChwaliszThe People's Verdict: Adding Informed Citizen Voices to Public Decision Making, Claudia ChwaliszDenizen podcast Citizen's Assemblies episodeDenizen Citizen's Assemblies overview To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.