Skip to main content

Will Democracy Survive Big Data and Artificial Intelligence?

Abstract

We are in the middle of a technological upheaval that will transform the way society is organized. We must make the right decisions now.

Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another.

—Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?” (1784)

Keywords

  • Intelligent Beings
  • Automatic Control Strategy
  • Cybernetic Loop
  • Applicable Data Protection Law
  • Collective Intelligence

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This article by Dirk Helbing, Bruno S. Frey, Gerd Gigerenzer, Ernst Hafen, Michael Hagner, Yvonne Hofstetter, Jeroen van den Hoven, Roberto V. Zicari, Andrej Zwitter was first published in Scientific American on February 25, 2017 under the URL https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-democracy-survive-big-data-and-artificial-intelligence/. The original German version appeared first in 2015 in Spektrum der Wissenschaft as “DigitalManifest” under the title “Digitale Demokratie statt Datendiktatur”. It is accessible via the URL http://www.spektrum.de/thema/das-digital-manifest/1375924

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Buying options

eBook
USD   24.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-319-90869-4
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   32.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Fig. 7.1
Fig. 7.2

Further Reading

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dirk Helbing .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Helbing, D. et al. (2019). Will Democracy Survive Big Data and Artificial Intelligence?. In: Helbing, D. (eds) Towards Digital Enlightenment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90869-4_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90869-4_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90868-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90869-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)