Power, Democracy and Algorithms: Political Epistemology Perspectives

Abstract

Governments increasingly adopt algorithmic tools in high-stake public decision-making: law enforcement, social benefit allocation and electoral politics. Is algorithmic decision-making a threat or a blessing for democratic governance? AI tools promise more accurate, objective, fair and efficient decision-making. Their actual deployment in policy-making, however, has been subject of controversies raising concerns that they contribute to discrimination and inequality, undermine due process, defy democratic accountability, dilute individuals’ agency and people’s right to consent. The aim of this panel is to explore the range and force of the trade-offs between the epistemic promises and the epistemic pitfalls of these algorithmic tools as deployed in institutional or more broadly political settings.

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