Artificial Intelligence Threatens the Pillars of the Liberal Democratic Paradigm

Liberal democracy has been the paradigmatic political system of the Western world for approximately 200 years. It grew from humble origins as a post-industrial revolution political philosophy into a force that would withstand totalitarian empires and irrevocably shape the modern world. Yet as a political system, liberal democracy is dependent upon certain institutional subsystems, and the validity of certain assumptions, without which its success cannot be guaranteed. The present AI revolution challenges the very ontology of liberal democracy in numerous ways, some of which are severe enough to warrant regulatory attention. In this article, two such challenges are discussed, and prospective countermeasures are provided.