AI and Democracy: Concerns, scenarios and ethical dilemmas
Published:
Sep 30, 2025
Keywords:
AI neuroethics democracy political decision-making governance
Abstract
If Artificial Intelligence envisages the 4.0 Industrial Revolution and if Technoethics is the multi-disciplinary field that sounds out and discerns the ways our value systems are impacted in the light new technologies, this Article seeks to bring forward opinions voiced on the future of human society, politics and democracy. Is the excessive deployment of AI in both private and public sphere capable of affecting our way of thinking, judging, acting, reacting, making (or delegating) decisions and participating in the res publica? Capitalizing on the field of neuroethics and political science we classify the procedures of human political decision-making, while bringing forward the opinions of techno-optimist and techno-pessimist scholars. Line of arguments ranging from bona fide usage of AI, ethical policy making, enhanced democratic representation down to solutionism and democratic perils of Algorithmic Decision-Making, Echo Chambers, AI biases, and gaps in Accountability, Responsibility, Transparency and Explanation will be presented as a bibliography overview. In the Discussion area paradigms and ethical dilemmas will be outlined for the interest of future research.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Sampathianaki, A. (2025). AI and Democracy: Concerns, scenarios and ethical dilemmas. Bioethica, 11(2), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.12681/bioeth.42843
- Section
- Reviews
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 License, which allows for immediate free access to the work and permits any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. Appropriate credit must be given by citing the author(s) and the original publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
We encourage authors to deposit their articles, as well as data underlying the publications, in institutional and/or other appropriate subject repositories.
Bioethica permits and encourages authors to archive the final publication pdf in institutional (e.g. the repository of the National Hellenic Research Foundation) or other appropriate subject repositories (e.g. SSOAR repository for social sciences), in compliance with institutional and/or funder open access policies, after publication in the BIOETHICA. Authors must provide bibliographic details that credit publication in the journal, as well as related funding details (when applicable).
Lists of institutional and other subject-based academic open access repositories can be found listed by country at the registry http://opendoar.org/countrylist.php
If your institution does not possess a repository you may deposit a copy of your paper at no cost with www.zenodo.org , the repository supported for open access research in the EU by the European Commission, through the project OpenAIRE (www.openaire.eu )
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Braun R. Artificial Intelligence: Socio-Political Challenges of Delegating Human Decision-Making to Machines. Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna, 2019, p.13.
Thaler, RH, Sunstein C R. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Revised & Expanded edition. Penguin Books, New York, 2009.
Scharpf FW, Governing in Europe: effective and democratic? Oxford University Press, 1999.
Klingemann HD, Hofferbert R, Budge I. Parties, Policies, And Democracy (Theoretical Lenses on Public Policy). Western Press, 1994, p.8.
König PD, Wenzelburger G. Opportunity for renewal or disruptive force? How artificial intelligence alters democratic politics. Government Information Quarterly, 2020, 3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101489.
Gazzaniga Μ. The Ethical Brain. Dana Press, Washington, DC, 2005.
Ντινόπουλος Θ. Νευροηθική. Επιστημονικές Εκδόσεις Παρισιάνου, Αθήνα, 2008.
For a detailed report of Libet’s experiment see Παπαδόπουλος Β. Νευροηθική: Ηθική και νομική ευθύνη. Το πρόβλημα της ελεύθερης βούλησης υπό το φως των ευρημάτων της νευροεπιστήμης, 2016, p.33-35. https://elocus.lib.uoc.gr/dlib/b/9/5/metadata-dlib-1536919653-758322-19292.tkl.
Ramachandran VS, Blakeslee S. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. William Morrow and Company, HarperCollins, 1999.
Mollaki V, Ziouvelou X, Giouvanopoulou K, Karkaletsis V. Promoting Research Security through Research Ethics and Integrity practices: recommendations for policy actions, 2025. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15696984.
Ünver ΗΑ. Artificial Intelligence, Authoritarianism and the Future of Political Systems. EDAM, Oxford CTGA & Kadir Has University, 2018.
Savaget P, Chiarini T, Evans S. Empowering political participation through AI.
Science and Public Policy, 2019, 46(3):369–380.
Pateman C. Participation and Democratic Theory, Cambridge University Press, 1970.
MacPherson CB. The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Wojcieszak M, Thakur A, Ferreira Gonçalves JF, Casas A, Menchen-Trevino E., Boon, M.
Can AI Enhance People’s Support for Online Moderation and Their Openness to Dissimilar Political Views? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2021, 26: 223–243. https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/26/4/223/6298304
Thiele LP. Politics of Technology-Specialty Grand Challenge. Front. Polit.Sci., 2020, 2.
Sgueo G. BRIEFING (Re-)thinking democracy Digital democracy Is the future of civic engagement online? EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service, 2020.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/646161/EPRS_BRI%282020%29646161_EN.pdf. In: Jafarova LA. Political institutions in times of AI, and Ethical Aspects of the Digitalization in Politics. SCIENDO: Polish Political Science Review, 2014, p. 8.
Battista D. Political communication in the age of artificial intelligence: an overview of deepfakes and their implications. Society Register, 2024, 8(2).
Klievink B, Romijn BJ, Cunningham S, de Bruijn H. Big data in the public sector: uncertainties and readiness. Information Systems Frontiers, 2017, 19: 267–283.
Höchtl J, Parycek P, Schöllhammer R. Big data in the policy cycle: policy decision making in the digital era. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 2016, 26:147–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10919392.2015.1125187.
Hellenic Republic National Commission for Bioethics & Technoethics is a pivotal example thereof with its latest Opinions on AI in Education and Preventive Health Analytics https://bioethics.gr/en/opinions%20reports-13/opinion-on-the-artifical-intelligence-applications-in-greek-school-29.04.2025-3222 & https://bioethics.gr/en/opinions%20reports-13/the-applications-of-artificial-intelligence-in-health-in-greece-3175
Duberry J. Artificial Intelligence and Democracy: Risks and Promises of AI-mediated citizen-government relations. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2022. In: Fest IC, (book review) Utrecht School of Governance Utrecht University, 2023, p.1.
Carpio A. Is it time to automate politicians? The Economist, Jul 31st, 2018.
Davis D. Is There an AI President in Our Future? That Might Be an Upgrade. Wired, May 18, 2017. https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hear-lets-elect-ai-president/
Antoniades A. Epistemic Communities, Epistemes and the Construction of (World) Politics. Global Society, 2003, 17(1), 21-38.
Morozov E. To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism. PublicAffairs, New York, 2013.
Jasanoff S, Kim SH. Dreamscapes of Modernity. Chicago University Press, 2015.
König PD, Wenzelburger G. Between technochauvinism and human‑centrism: Can algorithms improve decision‑making in democratic politics? European Political Science, 2022, 21:6. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-020-00298-3.
Helbing D, Frey BS, Gigerenzer G, Hafen E, Hagner M, Hofstetter Y, van den Hoven J, Zicari RV, Zwitter A. Will democracy survive big data and artificial intelligence? Scientific American 2017, 25. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-democracy-survive-big-data-and-artificial-intelligence/
Braun R. op.cit., p.8.
Harvey D. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, 2007, p.24.
Chadwick Α. The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power. Oxford University Press, New York, 2017.
Scholz T. Digital Labor: The Internet as Playground and Factory Routledge, New York, 2012. In: Ünver HA, op.cit., 2018.
Reisach U. The responsibility of social media in times of societal and political manipulation. European Journal of Operational Research, 2020, 291(3):906-917.
Cacciatore, MA, Yeo SK, Scheufele DA, Xenos, MA, Brossard D, Corley EA. Is Facebook Making Us Dumber? Exploring Social media Use as a Predictor of Political Knowledge. Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly, 2018, 95 (2), 404–424.
Fisher J, Feng S, Aron R, Richardson T, Choi Y, Fisher DW, Pan J, Tsvetkov Y, Reinecke K. Biased AI can Influence Political Decision-Making, ArXiv, 2024. https://arxiv.org/html/2410.06415v1
Rozado D. Danger in the Machine: The Perils of Political and Demographic Biases Embedded in AI Systems, Manhattan Institute, 2023.
Helbing et al. op.cit.
Tomić Z, Damnjanović T, Tomić I. AI in Political Campaigns. South Eastern European Journal of Communication, 2023, 5.
Pashentsev E. Malicious Use of Deepfakes and Political Stability. Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited, 2020.
Doshi J, Novacic I, Fletcher C, Borges M, Zhong E, Marino,M C, Gan J., Mager S, Sprague D, Xia M. Sleeper Social Bots: A New Generation of AI Disinformation Bots are Already a Political Threat. University of Southern California, 2024.
Brkan M. Artificial intelligence and democracy: The impact of disinformation, social bots and political targeting. Delphi Forum. Interdisciplinary Review of Emerging Technologies, 2019, 2 (2): 66-71. https://delphi.lexxion.eu/article/delphi/2019/2/4
Dubois E, McKelvey FR. Political Bots: Disrupting Canada’s Democracy. CJC Policy Portal, December 20, 2024. https://cjc.utppublishing.com/doi/pdf/10.22230/cjc.2019v44n2a3511
Costa E, Halpern D. The Behavioural Science of Online Harm and Manipulation, and what to Do about it. The Behavioural Insights Team, 2019. https://www.bi.team/publications/the-behavioural-science-ofonline-harm-and-manipulation-andwhat-to-do-about-it/
Woolley SC, Howard PN. Automation, Algorithms, and Politics| Political Communication, Computational Propaganda, and Autonomous Agents. International Journal of Communication, 2016, 10:4882–4890. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6298/1809.
Mavriki P, Karyda M. Big Data Analytics: Big data analytics in e-government and e-democracy applications: privacy threats, implications and mitigation. Int. J. Electronic Governance,2022, 14:4.
Doshi-Velez et al. op.cit. There is a significant debate going on about the Articles 13-15 of GDPR (effective May 25, 2018) and the “right to explanation” concerning the existence, logic and envisaged consequences of automated DM systems combined with the right of the Subject to refrain or decline decisions made by automated systems (Article 22 reference to: Council Regulation 2016/679, arts. 13-15, 22, 2016 O.J.(L119) 1). This debate prompts us to consider that meaningful information methods about how AI systems operate is due if we wish to receive (and therefore exercise our right to) the necessary explanation.
Kavanagh D, McGarraghy S, Séamas K. Ethnography in and around an algorithm. SWG Creativity, Reflexivity and Responsibility in Organizational Ethnography, 2015. https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/7348
Zuboff S. Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 2015, 30 (1):75–89. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2015.5
Hacker P, Teaching fairness to artificial intelligence: Existing and novel strategies against algorithmic discrimination under EU law. Common Market Law Review, 2018, 55(4):1143-1185.
In: Coeckebergh M. The Political Philosophy of AI. Polity Press, 2022.
Ünver HA, op.cit.
Foucault M. Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison, (trans. Alan Sheridan). Vintage Books, New York, 1995.
Ball K, Snider L. The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: A Political Economy of Surveillance. Routledge, New York, 2013.
Walton N, Bhabani S. Rethinking of Marxist perspectives on big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and capitalist economic development. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2021, 166(1):120576.
The famous response of Facebook CEO Marc Zuckenberg when asked to give explanations in the 2018 Senate Hearing upon issues of misinformation, hate speech and privacy.
Nemitz P. Constitutional democracy and technology in the age of artificial intelligence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2018, 376 (2133): 1–14.
Results published in 2021 available at: IE University official webpage results: https://www.ie.edu/university/news-events/news/ie-university-research-reveals-1-2-europeans-want-replace-national-mps-robots/
Cyranoski D. Beijing Launches Pioneering Brain-Science Centre. News, Nature, April 5, 2018. In: Ünver HA, op.cit.
Battista D. For better or for worse: Politics marries pop culture (TikTok and the 2022 Italian elections). Society Register, 2023, 7(1).
Morosoli S, Kieslich K, Resendez V, van Drunen M. AI Governance in the Spotlight: An Empirical Analysis of Dutch Political Parties' Strategies for the 2023 Elections, 2024.
Efthymiou IP, Efthymiou -Egleton TW, Sidiropoulos S. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Politics: Should Political AI be Controlled? International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, 2020, 5.
Wojcieszak et al.m op.cit., p.14.
Febriandy RK, Revolusi P. The Digital Political Revolution: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Political Campaigns on Voter Perceptions and Decisions in Generation Z In Indonesia. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa, 2024, 11(2):444-458.
Raza A, Waqar AM. Algorithmic Curation in Facebook: An Investigation into the role of AI in Forming Political Polarization and Misinformation in Pakistan. Annals of Human and Social Sciences, 2024, 5, No. 2 (S): 219-232. http://doi.org/10.35484/ahss.2024(5-II-S)22.
Dubois et al., op.cit.
Makridakis S. The Forthcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution: Its Impact on Society and Firms. Futures 90, 2017: 46–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2017.03.006
Müller VC. Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020. (Ed. Zalta EN). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/ethics-ai/
Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI. EC. (2018c).
Braun R. op.cit., p.21-23.
Tomić et al., op.cit., p.3.
Burr C, Floridi L. The Ethics of Digital Well-Being: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. In: Burr C, Floridi L (ed) Ethics of Digital Well-Being, A Multidisciplinary Approach. Philosophical Studies Series, 2020: 1–29.
Christodoulou E, Iordanou K. Democracy Under Attack: Challenges of Addressing Ethical Issues of AI and Big Data for More Democratic Digital Media and Societies. Politics of Technology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Political Science, 2021:8.
Dubois et al., op.cit.
Crawford K, Schultz J. AI systems as state actors. Columbia Law Review, 2019, 119.
Rahwan I. Society-in-the-loop: programming the algorithmic social contract. Springer Nature Link. Ethics Inf Technol, 2018, 20:5–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-017-9430-8.
Doshi-Velez et al. op.cit., p. 13-14.
Bietti E. Assessing principles for the regulation of online content: Lessig’s modalities of regulation. Media Laws: Law and Policy of the Media on A Comparative Perspective, 2017. https://www.medialaws.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1.2017-Bietti.pdf
Helbing et al. op.cit.
Tsekeris C. Industry 4.0 and the digitalisation of society: Curse or cure? Homo Virtualis, 2018, 1(1): 4–12. https://doi.org/10.12681/homvir.18622
Γιαννακόπουλος Γ. Τεχνητή Νοημοσύνη: Μια Διακριτική Απομυθοποίηση. Εκδόσεις Ροπή, 2021.
