Knowledge Technologies for Democracy (KT4D)

Fostering civic participation in democracy capitalising on the benefits of knowledge technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are reshaping the fabric of modern societies, redefining cultural norms and expectations around governance and civic participation. While these technologies hold the potential to enhance democracy—by improving access to information, enabling more informed policymaking, and fostering civic engagement—they also pose significant risks. These include issues of opacity, where the decision-making processes of AI systems remain unclear; the rapid pace of technological advancement, which often outpaces democratic oversight; and the concentration of power in a few dominant private entities.

The KT4D project addresses these challenges by leveraging knowledge technologies to enhance civic engagement, strengthen democratic institutions, and mitigate the ethical, legal, and cultural risks associated with AI and big data. A three-year initiative funded under the Horizon Europe programme, KT4D is dedicated to creating innovative frameworks, tools, and practices that empower citizens, policymakers, and developers to navigate the intersection of democracy and technology.

Why It Matters

As artificial intelligence (AI) and big data become more integrated into decision-making, they bring risks for democracy. The Digital Democracy Lab (DDL), KT4Ds exploration on AI use within deliberative processes, explores how AI can be used in democratic processes without sacrificing transparency, inclusivity, and critical reflection and understanding.

• Challenging the Push for Efficiency – Many digital systems prioritize speed and automation, but democracy works best when people take time to deliberate, understand and question. The Digital Democracy Lab embraces this by slowing down interactions with AI, making space for reflection and discussion.
• Making AI Transparent and Accountable – AI often operates as a black box, making decisions without people knowing how or why. The DDL opens up AI systems, allowing participants to see how data is selected, how decisions are made, and where biases might exist.
• Giving Citizens a Voice in AI – Instead of letting AI shape conversations on its own, the DDL encourages people to actively shape how AI is used in discussions. Participants don’t just receive information—they question, critique, and refine it together.
• Using AI to Strengthen, Not Replace, Democracy – The DDL shows that AI should be a tool for supporting better discussions, not making decisions for people. By encouraging collaboration, multiple perspectives, and critical thinking, AI can enhance democratic debate rather than weaken it.

By designing intentional friction points—moments that slow down interaction to encourage critical thinking and collaboration—the DDL demonstrates how AI can be designed to support democracy rather than undermine it. This project is a key step toward ensuring that emerging technologies work for people, not the other way around.

Objectives

KT4D is driven by three overarching goals:

• Building Civic Capacity: Develop tools and resources to empower citizens and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). This includes fostering digital literacy and creating meaningful avenues for civic participation and engagement in democratic processes.
• Strengthening Policy and Regulation: Design regulatory tools and frameworks to support policymakers and CSOs in navigating the ethical and societal impacts of AI and big data. This includes promoting algorithmic accountability and the ethical use of data.
• Promoting Ethical Technology Design: Raise awareness in academic and industrial sectors about the importance of embedding democratic values into software design. This involves addressing cultural and ethical considerations in the development of advanced knowledge technologies.

How It Works

DemSoc plays a central role in the KT4D project by embedding democratic values and principles into the development of cutting-edge technologies. A key contribution from Demsoc is its leadership in the creation of the Digital Democracy Lab (DDL) and the Digital Democracy Demonstrator (DDD)—innovative tools designed to explore and enhance the intersection of AI, big data, and democratic processes.

Digital Democracy Lab (DDL)

The Digital Democracy Lab (DDL) operates on the belief that AI technologies, when developed within democratic frameworks, can help address complex societal challenges that traditional democratic methods may struggle to resolve. The lab combines digital and analogue components in a dynamic one-day workshop format, enabling participants to critically engage with AI technologies.

Through hands-on exercises, participants generate AI-informed policy briefs, examine user profiling, and explore the capabilities and limitations of large language models. By fostering critical thinking and iterative feedback cycles, the DDL bridges the gap between democratic values and the application of advanced AI technologies.

Digital Democracy Demonstrator (DDD)

The Digital Democracy Demonstrator (DDD) is the AI-powered platform used in the DDL. Designed to support deliberative processes, the DDD helps participants engage with complex or speculative topics that might be challenging in traditional analogue settings. Equipped with features such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and a specialised GPT model trained on diverse datasets, the DDD facilitates policy document generation, multilingual translation, and other deliberative tasks.

The development of the DDD by Demsoc involved pioneering a Democracy-in-the-Loop approach. This goes beyond traditional human-in-the-loop systems by embedding democratic values directly into the AI's development and use. A key aspect of this approach is the introduction of "meaningful frictions"—deliberate design elements that slow down processes to encourage reflection on transparency, trust, and accountability. These friction points ensure that AI-driven processes remain subject to democratic oversight and human intervention, safeguarding against over-automation or uncritical optimisation.

Together, the DDL and DDD exemplify Demsoc’s commitment to fostering public engagement, empowering participants to collaboratively address ethical, cultural, and technical challenges posed by emerging technologies. These tools embody the KT4D mission to align technological innovation with democratic principles.