The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Freedom, Rationality, Rule of Law and Democracy: Should We Not Be Debating It?

Headnote

The neoliberal paradigm that glorifies technological advancement downplays the pernicious impacts of Artificial Intelligence ("AI") on the foundational values of Western democracies. This essay reviews the current and near-future impacts of AI on values like freedom, rationality, and the rule of law, joining the efforts of academics, policy makers, and concerned citizens who in recent years have tried-not quite successfully-to raise awareness of the necessity of a genuine debate on our technological future. As such, the paper combines ontology and advocacy.

I. Introduction.108

II. The Impact of A.I. on Liberal Values that Underpin Western Legal Systems.109

A. Big Data's Impact on Freedom, Rationality and Equality: An Orwellian View.109

B. Big Data's Impact on Freedom, Rationality and Equality: A Kafkaesque View.112

III. The Impact of AI on the Rule of Law.115

IV. Democracy in the Machine Era.119

A. Is Democracy Still Here? .119

V. Should We Democratically Debate Our Technological Future?. 124

I. Introduction

A few years ago, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking warned that the development of full artificial intelligence ("AI") "could spell the end of the human race."1 AI is "a set of computational technologies that are inspired by . . . the ways people use their nervous systems and bodies to sense, learn, reason, and take action."2 Hawking's opinion about AI is shared by authors across diverse academic and professional backgrounds.3 Their concerns are grounded in the potential for AI to move from the current stage of artificial narrow intelligence to an indeterminate future of superintelligence.4

While superintelligent AI is concerning, that is a worry for the distant future; these concerns should not obscure the present risks of AT AI has an increasing role in human decision-making in important policy areas today. This has troubling implications for the rule of law and, more broadly, for the liberal values on which Western society is built. This paper calls attention to these implications by examining the current impacts of AI on freedom, autonomy, equality, the rule of law, and democracy in Western society. This essay concludes with a call for a genuine debate on these matters.

II. The Impact of A.I. on Liberal Values that Underpin Western Legal Systems

A. Big Data's Impact on Freedom, Rationality and Equality: An Orwellian View

In his influential work...