Citizen Engagement in Democracy

A Canadian government department wanted to use AI to process visa applications faster. Before they could deploy, they had to complete an Algorithmic Impact Assessment. Question 15: "Could this system's decisions affect someone's legal rights?" Yes. Question 23: "Will decisions be automatically made without human review?" Partially. Question 31: "Does the system use machine learning trained on historical data?" Yes. Final score: Level 3 (High Impact) Requirements triggered: → Explainability for every decision → Human review for all rejections → Quarterly bias testing → Public audit trail The department couldn't deploy until these were in place. Six months later: The system processed applications 40% faster. But monitoring revealed something interesting: Applications from certain countries were flagged for review at 3x the rate predicted. Because the assessment was public, a researcher noticed this gap. Investigation revealed the AI learned patterns from old data when those countries had different visa requirements. System was retrained. Assessment was updated. Public report explained what was learned. This is what good governance looks like: Not rules preventing deployment. Not audits finding problems later. But transparency creating continuous learning. The Canadian approach proves something crucial: You don't need complex regulations. You need organizations to commit publicly to their AI's impact, then govern the gap between promise and reality. Simple. Transparent. Effective. Why isn't everyone doing this? #AIRegulation #AIPolicy #DigitalGovernance #TechPolicy #RegulatoryCompliance

The G7 Toolkit for Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector, prepared by the OECD.AI and UNESCO, provides a structured framework for guiding governments in the responsible use of AI and aims to balance the opportunities & risks of AI across public services. ✅ a resource for public officials seeking to leverage AI while balancing risks. It emphasizes ethical, human-centric development w/appropriate governance frameworks, transparency,& public trust. ✅ promotes collaborative/flexible strategies to ensure AI's positive societal impact. ✅will influence policy decisions as governments aim to make public sectors more efficient, responsive, & accountable through AI. Key Insights/Recommendations: 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬: ➡️importance of national AI strategies that integrate infrastructure, data governance, & ethical guidelines. ➡️ different G7 countries adopt diverse governance structures—some opt for decentralized governance; others have a single leading institution coordinating AI efforts. 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 & 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 ➡️ AI can enhance public services, policymaking efficiency, & transparency, but governments to address concerns around security, privacy, bias, & misuse. ➡️ AI usage in areas like healthcare, welfare, & administrative efficiency demonstrates its potential; ethical risks like discrimination or lack of transparency are a challenge. 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 ➡️ focus on human-centric AI development while ensuring fairness, transparency, & privacy. ➡️Some members have adopted additional frameworks like algorithmic transparency standards & impact assessments to govern AI's role in decision-making. 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ➡️provides a phased roadmap for developing AI solutions—from framing the problem, prototyping, & piloting solutions to scaling up and monitoring their outcomes. ➡️ engagement + stakeholder input is critical throughout this journey to ensure user needs are met & trust is built. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐬𝐞 ➡️Use cases include AI tools in policy drafting, public service automation, & fraud prevention. The UK’s Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) and Canada's AI impact assessments serve as examples of operational frameworks. 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 & 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: ➡️G7 members to open up government datasets & ensure interoperability. ➡️Countries are investing in technical infrastructure to support digital transformation, such as shared data centers and cloud platforms. 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 & 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: ➡️ importance of collaboration across G7 members & international bodies like the EU and Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) to advance responsible AI. ➡️Governments are encouraged to adopt incremental approaches, using pilot projects & regulatory sandboxes to mitigate risks & scale successful initiatives gradually.

One of the biggest threats to our democracy is the lack of full participation. People with lower incomes and those without college degrees vote at significantly lower rates than Americans with higher earnings and more education; people of color are also less likely to vote than White people. These problems have worsened over the last few election cycles. Important new research from professor Daniel Laurison and colleagues from Swarthmore College highlights a powerful reality behind this problem: many working-class and low-income Americans aren’t apathetic about politics — they feel disconnected from it. Based on hundreds of interviews across Pennsylvania, the report offers powerful insights into why participation gaps persist and what could rebuild trust. Key findings: • Politics feels “not for people like me.” Many non-voters and infrequent voters see politics as dominated by wealthier, more educated people and feel excluded from political spaces. • Widespread belief that the system is corrupt or ineffective. Participants often doubt that politicians care about their communities or that government can deliver meaningful change. • Disconnection—not apathy—drives disengagement. Most interviewees care deeply about their families, communities, and issues, but struggle to see how politics connects to their daily lives. What would help rebuild engagement? The report highlights key priorities: 1️⃣ Show how politics improves real lives. People want clear, tangible links between policy and the problems they face. 2️⃣ Increase representation. People want to see leaders from working-class and low-income backgrounds across government and political organizations. 3️⃣ Spend more time listening in communities. Trust grows when leaders engage directly and consistently with the people they represent. The punchline: Political disengagement is often a symptom of disconnection and distrust—not lack of interest. Rebuilding participation means making politics more relatable, representative, and responsive. For more information and to download the report: https://lnkd.in/gMMFEwGZ

Communities across the United States are being promised economic transformation through AI infrastructure: data centers, new facilities, and the employment that is said to follow. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently published a profile that allowed me to speak directly to what this promise actually delivers. The permanent employment generated by these facilities is typically a small fraction of what initial announcements suggest, and is rarely drawn from the communities that have accepted the environmental footprint, the land use, and the infrastructure burden. This pattern is not incidental to how AI development proceeds — it reflects a deliberate logic. Speed is strategic. Moving faster than regulators can act, faster than public deliberation can form an informed position, is precisely how the benefits of technological deployment are captured by the deployers rather than distributed to those most affected. Democratic governance of technology requires that communities have time, information, and institutional capacity to participate in decisions before those decisions are made on their behalf. https://lnkd.in/gQZERb7S

AI governance is failing not because the technology is moving too fast, but because our vision is moving too slow. We focus (rightfully) on AI risks: concentration of power, automation of bias, deepening inequities. But as I meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week sharing expertise on these questions, I'm struck that we're missing the most important question - what do we need to do to get AI right? First, we need to flip the script on regulation. Policymakers are racing to catch up with AI that we all barely understand. This approach guarantees failure. Effective governance starts with human values, not technical specifications. Regulation should articulate the society we want AI to build and invest public resources in building it. One where technology strengthens autonomy, not surveillance and expands opportunity instead of concentrating wealth and power. Public-interest AI isn't charity - it's insurance against a future that none of us want. Second, the idea of a “global AI arms race” misses the point. When one nation develops unsafe AI, everyone faces the consequences. Officials from across the globe believe they can solve AI governance alone. They can't. AI impacts travel instantly across borders. The most powerful AI systems are built by companies, not countries. This makes traditional governance models obsolete before implementation. I explored these ideas on NPR’s The Middle with Jeremy Hobson and Ina Fried of Axios, where we answered questions that millions of Americans and global citizens ask themselves about AI: "Who writes the rules when algorithms shape our lives?" "How does AI strengthen rather than undermine democracy?" "What role can ordinary citizens play?" These questions stem from a deep rooted common sense - the public grasps what experts often miss. Callers from diverse backgrounds articulated concerns that technical papers bury in jargon. The foundations we lay today will determine whether AI becomes the most democratizing technology in human history or the most oppressive. Listen to our conversation: https://lnkd.in/e7_Fs8mm #ArtificialIntelligence #PublicInterestTech #AIForGood #TechForGood #HumanCenteredAI #FutureOfWork  #AIEquity The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation Jeremy Hobson Lisa Micele Center for AI and Digital Policy EqualAI Aspen Digital Vivian Schiller

The #24HourEconomy has been launched—a bold vision for Ghana’s growth and one of the flagship initiatives of the Mahama administration. But a launch is not a legacy. Where is the post-launch communications plan? Policies only become transformative when citizens understand them, see where they fit, and know how to take part. Right now, too few Ghanaians can explain what this economy means for their livelihoods, businesses, or daily lives. A strong post-launch communications strategy should: • Break down the policy into simple, relatable terms—so the average trader, entrepreneur, or worker sees its relevance. • Create sector-specific engagement—so industries know how to align and benefit. • Establish feedback mechanisms—so government listens, adapts, and builds trust. This isn’t just good PR; it’s good governance. Without ongoing, intentional communication, even the best policies risk becoming political slogans rather than economic drivers. For the 24-hour economy to succeed, we must treat communication as infrastructure—essential, continuous, and citizen-centered. I touch on this and other aspects of governance communication in this episode of #CivicSignal : https://lnkd.in/dW4ycPXq #GovernanceCommunication #PublicPolicy #CivicEngagement #Ghana #24HourEconomy #Development

My latest article, co-authored with Erezi Ogbo-Gebhardt, Ph.D., has been published in the London School of Economics LSE@Africa platform, hosted by the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa! In our piece, "Public Feedback is Imperative for Good AI Governance," we advocate for African governments to institutionalize the practice of public feedback, providing a blueprint for the length of comment periods, submission mechanisms, increased transparency of submissions, and acknowledgement for contributions that shape policy implementation. https://lnkd.in/eA34KiPj This is my last piece written as a Public Voices Fellow on Technology in the Public Interest with the The OpEd Project and the MacArthur Foundation. I'm grateful to the program for refining my skills as a public intellectual and equipping me with the support to strengthen my writing, while building community with a group of scholars advancing vital questions regarding technology’s impact on society.

Being part of the working group shaping the Code of Practice for Article 50 of the AI Act has given me a close view of how this process works, and how much thought is going into the details. We've had some interesting and challenging debates on transparency, disclosure, provenance, and implementation. These are foundational questions for anyone who wants a regulatory framework that can hold up in the real world rather than only on paper. What continues to surprise me, though, is how little attention AI literacy has received in comparison to technical details such as marking techniques or detection APIs. I personally believe that we will come to regret this imbalance, as I've told Madalina Botan in our conversation for Republica.ro AI literacy is, in my view, the main factor that will determine whether the Code (and Article 50, in general) will succeed in practice. The resilience of a society against misinformation will largely depend on whether people understand the media environment they are operating in. It will depend on whether citizens, teachers, journalists, and public institutions have a grounded understanding of what synthetic media can do, how it is likely to evolve, and how much confidence they should place in the signals presented to them. A disclosure mechanism only has value when the person encountering it understands what it means. A provenance standard only helps when people have a realistic sense of what it can verify and where its limits are. A transparency obligation only strengthens trust when the surrounding public has the context required to interpret it sensibly. In other words, the effectiveness of many technical measures will be shaped by the level of public understanding around them. For me, that is one of the most important lessons from this process so far: governance discussions still have a tendency to treat literacy as an adjacent issue, when it should be seen as part of the core infrastructure of the kind of trustworthy AI adoption which Europe has told the world it is keen to accelerate. It is also one of the reasons why what we are building at Synthesia matters: by giving more people across Europe, and increasingly around the world, access to a secure, enterprise-grade AI platform, we are helping them understand the capabilities of AI video through practical use, and apply them to productive outcomes such as upskilling or other forms of learning in the workplace.

Imagine a future where our leaders are not just figureheads, but true champions of progress—capable, well-educated, and deeply connected to the needs of the nation. This vision can become a reality if we, as the electorate, take an active role in shaping our leadership landscape. The recent Kenya Presidential Round Table underscored the importance of this involvement, revealing gaps that can only be bridged through our collective effort. ✅ Empowering the Electorate: As citizens, we hold the power to influence the direction of our nation through our choices. It is essential that we become more intentional about the leaders we select. This means looking beyond charisma and rhetoric, and focusing on the qualifications, wisdom, and understanding of national issues that candidates bring to the table. ✅ Educating Ourselves: By thoroughly understanding our constitution, we can better recognize our rights and responsibilities. This knowledge enables us to make informed decisions, hold our leaders accountable, and engage meaningfully in the political process. ✅ Civic Duty and Engagement: Our civic duty extends beyond the ballot box. It involves staying informed about current issues, participating in community discussions, and advocating for policies that reflect our values. Engaging in these activities not only strengthens our democracy but also ensures that our voices are heard. Intentional Leadership Selection: To select the best leaders, we must: ✅ Research Candidates: Investigate their backgrounds, qualifications, and track records. Look for evidence of their commitment to public service and their understanding of national issues. ✅ Evaluate Policies: Scrutinize their policy proposals and assess their feasibility and alignment with national interests. ✅ Demand Transparency: Insist on transparency in their campaigns and governance. Transparency fosters trust and accountability. ✅ Promote Inclusivity: Support leaders who prioritize inclusivity and represent the diverse voices within our society. The Role of Young People: As the future leaders and changemakers, it is imperative that we equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills needed to drive progress. By participating actively in the political process, we can help shape policies that reflect our aspirations and values. The path to better leadership starts with us. By empowering ourselves through education, civic engagement, and intentional decision-making, we can ensure that our leaders are truly capable and dedicated to the nation's progress. Let us commit to being informed, active, and intentional in our approach to selecting leaders. Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient future for our country. Let us harness our collective power as the electorate to demand excellence in leadership. Educate yourself about the constitution, engage in civic activities, and be intentional in your leadership choices. Our future depends on the decisions we make today.

“… we need to build, and in some cases build back, the structures and forums where the government listens and acts on the feedback they receive from civil society and social partners. Not consultation as a box-ticking exercise, but sustained, two-way dialogue as participatory democracy. This is about more than building trust. Giving communities a say in the decisions that affect them leads not only to greater buy-in but also to better outcomes. On topics like sustainable farming, cycle lanes in urban areas and access to Wi-Fi in rural areas, they anticipate challenges before policymakers do and can come up with solutions. On the other hand, a lack of consultation has been an undoubted driver of unrest in communities, leading to difficulties like protests and attacks against asylum-seeker accommodation, for instance. These are often stoked by malign actors with misinformation, but they are also exploiting an information vacuum.” An important piece on the vital role of democracy from Séamus Boland, particularly as the impacts of climate and ecological breakdown continue to intensify. Link in the comments below. 📷 Quote from Heather C. McGhee as part of the wonderful All We Can Save book (edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson)