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Journal of Deliberative Democracy
webdelibdemjournal.org·delibdemjournal.org/article/id/1839/
Relevant to AI governance debates, this peer-reviewed article offers a critical political science perspective on risks of deploying AI in democratic processes, cautioning against technosolutionist framings that may undermine rather than strengthen democratic governance.
Metadata
Importance: 52/100journal articleanalysis
Summary
This 2025 academic article critiques the growing trend of using AI to 'fix' deliberative democracy, arguing that technosolutionism depoliticizes democratic processes, marginalizes mass politics, and leaves the political economy of AI unexamined. Using case studies of European Citizens' Panels and Google's Habermas Machine, the authors contend that AI tools reinforce narrow conceptions of democracy centered on minipublics rather than collective political actors.
Key Points
- •AI technosolutionism in deliberative democracy reinforces depoliticization and disintermediation rather than genuinely enhancing democratic participation.
- •Google's 'Habermas Machine' and EU Citizens' Panels are cited as examples where technology substitutes for, rather than supports, genuine political deliberation.
- •The article argues that minipublics-focused approaches sideline mass politics and collective actors essential to meaningful democracy.
- •The political economy of AI—who owns, controls, and profits from these tools—is largely left unquestioned in mainstream deliberative democracy discourse.
- •Authors call for reorienting democracy toward mass politics and collective actors rather than narrow AI-mediated deliberative formats.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Assisted Deliberation | Approach | 63.0 |
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Reflections from the Field
Why AI Technosolutionism Harms Democracy and Deliberation
Reflections from the Field
Why AI Technosolutionism Harms Democracy and Deliberation
Abstract
Technology has recently entered the scene of deliberative democracy, both as a subject of deliberation and as a way to improve deliberative processes. The hegemonic position in this debate within the deliberative democracy community appears to be that, while it is not a bulletproof solution, technology—and more specifically AI—holds the potential to make deliberation and democracy better. The article takes stock of the latest developments in relation to technology and deliberation, focusing specifically on the European Citizens’ Panels and Google’s Habermas Machine. We argue that the current trend is characterised by technosolutionism, and that introducing technology as a ‘solution’ to ‘fix’ some of the ‘problems’ within the deliberative democracy community reinforces its depoliticisation and disintermediation. Deliberative technosolutionism moves the discussion away from the systemic desirability of minipublics, sidelines a mass politics conception of democracy, and leaves unquestioned the political economy of AI. By contrast, democracy needs to be oriented towards mass politics and collective actors rather than reproducing the narrow conception of democracy and deliberation upon which minipublics are built.
Keywords
Technology,
Public Sphere,
European Union,
Habermas Machine,
Deliberative Democracy,
Minipublics,
Citizen Assemblies,
Citizen Participation
How to Cite
Oleart, A. & Palomo, N.,
(2025) “Why AI Technosolutionism Harms Democracy and Deliberation”,
Journal of Deliberative Democracy .
doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.1839
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Funding
Name
Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
FundRef ID
https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002661
Funding Statement
Alvaro Oleart is grateful for the support of the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique—FNRS.
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1. What Are the Debates in the Deliberative Democracy Community in Relation to Technology?
Technology has recently entered the scene of deliberative democracy, both
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