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I am delighted to share the forthcoming release of my newest publication, Rewiring Democracy: How AI will Transform our Politics, Government, and Citizenship: coauthored with Nathan Sanders, and set to be released by MIT Press on October 21.

Rewiring Democracy explores beyond prevalent clichés such as deepfakes to investigate how AI innovations will influence democracy across five major domains: politics, legislation, administration, the judiciary, and citizenship. There is much to delve into here, encompassing both benefits and drawbacks. We do discuss AI’s potential impact on democratic regression or the revitalization of democracies, yet the primary emphasis of the book centers around current and future applications of AIs within operational democracies. (And indeed, there are numerous developments underway in both national and local governments globally.) Additionally, we address AI-driven propaganda and synthetic dialogues.

Some topics we examine are occurring in real-time, whereas much of our discussion is speculative. Overall, we adopt an encouraging perspective on AI’s potential. Not necessarily due to believing all the hype, but because a touch of optimism is essential to dialogue about potential societal transformations prompted by these technologies—and what’s particularly fascinating are the secondary effects of these innovations. Unless one can envision a variety of potential futures, steering toward the desired outcomes becomes challenging. We conclude with the importance of public AI: AI frameworks that are not developed by commercial entities for their own short-term gains.

Truthfully, this was an arduous book to compose amidst the US presidential campaign of 2024, followed by the initial months of the second Trump administration. I believe we effectively recognized the realities unfolding in the US without overly fixating on them.

Here’s my dedicated webpage for the book, where you can peruse the publisher’s description, view the table of contents, read some reviews from early readers, and purchase copies from your preferred online retailer—or signed editions directly from me. Please note that I am spending the current academic year at the Munk School at the University of Toronto. I will be able to dispatch signed books right after the release on October 22, and then again on November 25.

Please assist me in disseminating this news. I hope the book will create a significant impact upon its initial release.

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