The project
The Artificial Intelligence and Citizens' Councils (KIB) project takes an interdisciplinary approach to the use of artificial intelligence and its significance for citizens' councils. AI offers a wide range of opportunities, such as improved accessibility and the reduction of inhibitions, and can therefore increase the social representativeness of citizens' assemblies. In addition, AI can also be helpful in the implementation of a citizens' assembly, e.g. in random selection or in strengthening and expanding the knowledge base. The challenges here are, on the one hand, the possibly distorted knowledge offered by AI and, on the other hand, the acceptance of AI by citizens.
The project will address the following questions:
1. for which known deficits of citizen councils and citizen science can AI show a particular solution potential, for example in terms of accessibility, inclusion and knowledge transfer?
2. which limitations, especially in the areas of reliability, impartiality, digital competences and possible influence on users, are evident in the use of AI and how can they be addressed so that social participation processes are meaningfully expanded and effectively enriched by the technological possibilities of AI?
Objective
The KIB project pursues the following objectives with the help of systemic, needs-based and innovation-orientated approaches:
1.) an inventory of the current use of digital tools in the various formats of citizens' councils,
2.) an inventory of future possible uses of AI for participation and citizen science (technical potential analysis), directly linked to existing technological approaches and existing tools,
3.) the critical testing and evaluation of the performance of AI applications in citizens' assemblies and citizen science, and
4.) the identification of narratives for the appropriate and sustainable use of AI in citizens' assemblies and citizen science.
Funding
KIB is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the Integrated Research Cluster in sub-cluster three "Perspectives of open science in a digitalised democracy".
Duration: November 2023 - October 2026
Project consortium: Institute for Democracy and Participation Research, Interdisciplinary Centre for Machine Learning and Data Analysis (both University of Wuppertal)
Scientific director at the IDPF: Prof Dr Detlef Sack, sack@uni-wuppertal.de
Collaboration: Nora Freier (MA), Emilia Blank (MA)
