Opinion: The algorithm, a tool against populist rhetoric

There is no shortage of critiques concerning the use of AI in public decision-making processes. Scholars, for example, have described algorithms as a “toxic cocktail for democracy” by pointing at the ever-growing availability of big data that can be manipulated to influence public discourse in specific (problematic) directions. Can we flip over the argument and make a case for harnessing the potential of digital technologies to increase the quality of democracy in times of rampant populism? We can actually resort to democratic theories that build on purely input frames to encompass the complex dimension of both political processes and policymaking.

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