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AI & SOCIETY

Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication

Publishing model:
Hybrid

AI & SOCIETY - Special issue on AI and Democracy: Transformative Impacts, Challenges, and Solutions

Special Issue Editors

Rafik Hadfi, Associate Professor, Kyoto University, Japan (rafik.hadfi@i.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
Takayuki Ito, Professor, Kyoto University, Japan (ito@i.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
Susumu Ohnuma, Professor, Hokkaido University, Japan (ohnuma@let.hokudai.ac.jp)
Shun Shiramatsu, Professor, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan (shiramatsu.shun@nitech.ac.jp)

Special Issue Consulting Editor: 
Dr. Larry Stapleton, Open Forum Editor, AI&Society: Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication (larrystapleton@knewfutures.com)

Artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved into a powerful instrument due to technological progress, large amounts of data, advancements in machine learning, and enhanced computational capabilities. The recent progress in conversational AI has demonstrated its adaptability across a wide range of tasks and its ability to generate synthetic content in direct response to user prompts.
Soon, a substantial portion of online content may be generated synthetically. This synthetic content presents opportunities and challenges to assist citizens to engage in democratic processes. However, it raises deep concerns as it can be a medium for disinformation and misinformation, triggering tensions and leading to conflicts. AI can also generate non-factual information or spread biases that do not reflect the public sentiment or embody the values of society more broadly. Despite these risks, AI generated synthetic content may have the potential to assist democratic processes. A number of questions must be addressed if AI is to provide this assistance, including:

  • How can AI-generated content handle biases in a way that supports democratic processes?
  • How should AI be designed to nudge, or persuade, people to participate in the democratic process such as elections?
  • How can governments, agencies and regulatory bodies establish ethical, policy and legal frameworks to promote the design of trustworthy, transparent, and accountable AI systems?
  • What theories, methodologies, practices do we need to meet these challenges?

Special Issue Themes

This Special Issue of AI & Society (AI&S) invites researchers and experts from the wider community interested in AI and its interaction with political science, social sciences, and governance to submit original research articles addressing the challenges and opportunities of AI and Democracy. By exploring these diverse aspects, the special issue aims to advance our understanding of the transformative role of AI in reshaping democratic systems and practices. The topics and themes include, but are not limited to:

  • The role of AI in Enhancing Democracy: Exploring how AI can assist engagement, for example, to support deliberation and policy-making.
  • Impacts and implications of AI in democratic engagement and public discourse.
  • Mitigating the impact of AI on Democratic processes: Strategies and frameworks.
  • Potential of AI to Bridge Divides: How can AI-generated content bridge social, gender, cultural, economic, geographical gaps by fostering inclusivity in democratic processes?

We welcome submissions that utilize a wide range of AI techniques, methodologies, and paradigms, including, but not limited to:

  • Ethical and legal frameworks for engagement in democratic processes.
  • Decision-making, Social Choice Theory, and Game Theory for inclusive engagement.
  • Machine Learning and Foundational Models for nudging and persuading people to participate in the democratic processes.
  • Agents, Multiagent Systems, and Distributed AI.
  • Blockchain Technologies, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, and Token Economy.
  • Wisdom of the Crowds, Collective Intelligence, and Collaborative Decision-Making.
  • Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, and Human-Based Computation.

Background of the Special Issue

This special issue builds on the topics raised and discussed at the 2nd International Workshop on Democracy and AI (IJCAI-DemocrAI 2023) organized jointly with the 32nd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) in 2023 (https://sites.google.com/kyoto-u.ac.jp/democrai2023/ (this opens in a new tab)). In addition, the DemocrAI workshop was organized with the 19th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (PRICAI 2022) and the 20th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (PRICAI 2023).

The outcomes of IJCAI-DemocrAI 2023 were theoretical, methodological, and technical. For instance, case studies in Ireland, Afghanistan, and Japan have demonstrated the deployment of AI techniques and methodologies into society and how they could affect deliberative and electoral processes.

Contribution Types

The special issue welcomes contributions in the following formats:

Original papers (max 10k words): These should be original contributions, theories, methods, or applications. They can include experimental work, case studies, or conceptual discussions focusing on the influence of AI platforms on democratic processes.
Open Forum papers (max 8k words): These can be research in progress or ideas papers. Contributions are welcome from researchers, practitioners, or experts interested in AI's impact on democracy. Possible formats include discussion papers, literature reviews, case studies, working papers, features, and articles on emerging research. Open Forum contributions aim to engage a broader audience, including academics, reporters, and the general reader.

All contributions will be double blind peer-reviewed by two reviewers and the editorial team.

Important Dates

Abstract submission due:      29th February 2024
Manuscript submission due: 30th April 2024  14th May 2024
Notifications:                          31st July 2024
Revised papers due:               30th September 2024

Submission Formatting

You can find more information about the formatting under the “Submission guidelines” section of the AI & Society Journal webpage (https://www.springer.com/journal/146 (this opens in a new tab)). For inquiries and to submit your abstract by email, please contact Rafik Hadfi (rafik.hadfi@i.kyoto-u.ac.jp) with the subject “AI & Society Special issue on Democracy and AI”.

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