Artificial intelligence (AI) acts as a computerized form of human brain powered by algorithmic tools such as machine learning, deep learning, and artificial neural networks. AI has demonstrated its unlimited potential in transforming almost every aspect of human life. With all the apparent benefits and opportunities, AI also brings forth serious problems in political, economic, and social contexts. What stands out as the most severe challenge is AI’s possible perilous effects on democratic institutions.

In April, 2024, the Spanish peer-reviewed journal “Justicia” published a research article authored by Oscar Yesid Céspedes Gutiérrez and Yudy Andrea Carrillo Cruz of Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (UCC).  This article seeks to examine the impacts of artificial intelligence on political freedom in democracies. The authors identify several major challenges and threats AI brings forth to the domestic and cross-national political spheres, and analyzes how AI could be associated with information manipulation, electoral profiling, and most important of all, the integrity of democratic processes.

The research discusses how the expansion of AI and other digital technologies reshapes domestic politics and resets the connections between democracy and political freedom. The research argues that basic human rights, such as freedom of speech and rights to equal and fair participation in political processes, are at risk with the emergence of AI, which raises uncertainty about political accountability in the new digital era. According to the research, AI has been revolutionizing the modern world, in economies, in social structures, and in political systems. The AI revolution generates benefits and opportunities for society, but also poses complex challenges to democracy and freedom.

Focusing on different functions, the authors categorize artificial intelligence into three types:  narrow AI, general AI, and super AI. Distinct types of AI perform distinct tasks ranging from simple ones like identifying inappropriate language in emails to complex ones such as debating and analyzing philosophical, ethical, and legal issues. In the beginning, artificial intelligence was meant to replicate human critical thinking with a combination of algorithms and collected data. Nowadays, those algorithms and data are being misused intentionally to manipulate democracy and curtail freedom. In this context, the authors argue that in a society powered by technology, human rights should serve as a counterweight to balance to the abuse of AI.

According to the research, freedom is constantly affected by people’s daily technological application. For instance, whenever an individual browses the internet, private information is yielded unwittingly to different sources of hidden servers. As a result, machine learning, big data, and other AI applications constitute grave threats to freedom. For instance, AI has enabled China’s totalitarian regime to set up a “social credit” system through registering, analyzing, and evaluating the behavior of citizens with “points-and-rewards.” To counter these threats, the European Parliament recently approved a new legislation that seeks to regulate Europe’s AI development in order to control the substantial risks that AI entails to freedom and democracy.

Smart phone apps powered by AI constitute another source of abuse. Beijing’s interference in Western democracies through TikTok has become a nightmare for American legislators, as nearly 178 million U.S. citizens actively use this viral video app. Tiktok not only spreads false information, but also exposes personal data, such as addresses, preferences, and search histories, under surreptitious surveillance. As a result, in March 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a new bill titled “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” (PAFACA) for the purpose of effectively confronting the TikTok epidemic.

In conclusion, the authors warns that a society with a rising presence of AI runs the danger of deviating from a free society. AI threatens freedom on different fronts, from individual decisions to information manipulation. Solid defense of human rights serves to counter this nefarious trend. In addition, AI regulations can be another potent antidote to eliminate AI’s negative externality in the political context. Simply put, as the saying “freedom is not free” tells, citizens’ constant vigilance on AI maintains human’s role as a master, not a slave, of advanced technology. This report is based on the English translation of the research article “Democracia en riesgo: la amenaza a las libertades políticas en la era de la inteligencia artificial” (“Democracy at risk: the threat to political freedoms in the era of artificial intelligence.”Read the full article