ORCID
Nicholas Croce: 0000-0002-4998-7729
Document Type
Article
Date
Spring 1-27-2025
Keywords
public administration, Artificial Intelligence (AI), natural language processing, deliberative democracy, generative chatbots in government
Language
English
Disciplines
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics | Communication Technology and New Media | Interpersonal and Small Group Communication | Other Political Science | Public Administration | Science and Technology Studies
Description/Abstract
What will be the role of chatbots in 21st century democratic processes? Considering the potential implementations of artificial intelligence (AI) “chatbots” or large language models (LLMs) with a natural language processing (NLP) interface for use in public administration, policy-making, and deliberative democratic processes, this essay explores representative and access-boosting roles for such chatbots: how they could supplement constituent services, increase access to government programs, facilitate deliberation, and perhaps even act as posthuman representatives within a deliberative democratic process. The essay reviews the burgeoning, multi-disciplinary academic literature dealing with the use of chatbots in both government and deliberative contexts—literature that probes questions of utility, representational ethics, equity and access. The essay concludes with an itinerary for further thinking and research, emphasizing the importance of both impact and formative evaluation.
ISSN
2398-4910
Recommended Citation
Croce, Nicholas, "Chatbot Democracy" (2025). Social Science - All Scholarship. 5.
https://surface.syr.edu/socsci/5
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Public Administration Commons, Science and Technology Studies Commons