About
The AI & Democracy Foundation (AIDF) is a governance innovation organization, working to ensure that our democratic systems are fit for a world with AI.
AI is reshaping our world. Without rapid action, the result will be a degradation of democracy, human agency, and liberty; immense power concentration; and chaotic destabilization. Unfortunately, rapid action requires politicians and corporations to make decisions which are structurally disincentivized (and for them to give up the possibility of immense power). We must have better ways of making critical decisions that affect society at large, before it is too late.
Our mission is to ensure that trustworthy democratic processes for making such decisions in the public interest are available and empowered when needed. In particular, we focus on representative deliberations (such as citizen assemblies), which are better incentivized to serve the public interest by design; can act as a powerful complement to our existing democratic systems; and may be designed to improve as AI advances continue — thus enabling us to maintain democracy in a world increasingly transformed by AI.
Our work involves three core pillars:
- Strategy: Developing ways to address critical gaps in our democratic systems.
- Capacity-building: Building out the “supply” of democratic systems that fill those gaps.
- Adoption: Unlocking “demand” for adoption of these critical democratic systems.
For more on the motivation for our work, see this essay.
Frequently asked questions
Team
Collectively, we have done pioneering work in AI resilience, bridging, human data, interoperability, attention, and peace building; designed or led 30+ intensive deliberative processes for governments and public utilities; supported multiple frontier AI labs in democratic innovation pilots; co-authored the UN handbook on citizens’ assemblies; and led and supported innovative grant programs at the intersections of AI and democracy.
- Aviv Ovadya (CEO)
- Quan Ze Chen
- Flynn Devine
- Eloïse Gabadou
- Andrew Konya
- Kyle Redman
- Jeff Skarin
- Oliver Smith
- Luke Thorburn
- *Bilva Chandra
- *Jessica Yu
Structure
The AI & Democracy Foundation is the operating name of Thoughtful Tech Project Inc, a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Our board members are Aviv Ovadya, Robin Whitmore, Evan Shapiro, and Alex Feerst.
Press
Contact
Email us at info@ai-democracy.org.