New paper: Exploring Emerging AI as Subject and Object in Democracy-Focused Evaluation

We are happy to share our new expert report and policy brief, published by the PrEval Platform, a project providing a systematic overview of eva­luation capacities in the field of extremism pre­vention, democracy promotion, and civic education. 

Our report provides an overview of the use of AI in evaluation, with a specific focus on democracy initiatives, and our accompanying policy brief focuses on the fundamental interactions between AI and democratic systems and implications for democracy-focused programming and evaluation.

Addressing the research gap: An overview of the use of AI in evaluation with a specific focus on democracy initiatives

The use of emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the evaluation sector remains incipient, with conversations remaining primarily theoretical and lacking in robust evidence. In our paper, we have addressed this gap by offering a landscape mapping of current literature identifying the implications of AI on democracy, the potential uses of AI for MERL being discussed, and the key benefits or shortcomings of applied use identified through case studies. Further, we also apply these learnings to the context of democracy programming, assessing the extent to which AI-supported MERL can meet assessment needs. 

In our report, we emphasize the importance of taking a highly specific approach to AI tool selection, analysing discrete applications and their possible utility for democracy evaluations, paying particular attention to the possible harms both broadly associated with AI in evaluation such as that of biassed data, as well as in the specific deployment of AI for the evaluation of democracy programmes, including the possibility of unintended outcomes. The paper also highlights how, though there is a wide range of potential uses, actual utility remains underexplored. We argue that, before deploying AI tools more widely, this area needs to be explored further.

“The relationship between democracy and AI needs consideration before AI is widely embraced in democracy-focused programming and evaluation.”

As a supplement to the report, our policy brief analyzes the fundamental interactions between AI and democratic systems and assesses the implications for democracy-focused programming and evaluation. 

In this rapidly evolving landscape, there is an urgent need for a deeper comprehension of how AI intersects with and influences democratic institutions and evaluation methodologies. In our brief, we share a snapshot of the potential applications of AI tools, their implications for democracy evaluators and policymakers, the ethical consequences of AI use, and recommend ways to address these shortcomings and ethical challenges. 

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Read the report: Exploring Emerging AI as Subject and Object in Democracy-Focused Evaluation

Read the policy brief: Generative AI in Democracy Evaluation: Opportunities, Risks, and Ethical Considerations