The current systems of government may appear outdated to many, and this perception is exacerbated by the low levels of participation seen in many elections. In fact, many electorates have lost hope or faith in the system itself, leading to a lack of engagement from citizens.
An AI-assisted distributed grassroots governance system is a decentralized network of interconnected local frameworks and LLM instances that provide a platform for community-based decision-making. It's a useful system because it allows for more participation, transparency, and accountability in decision-making processes, and can prevent and avoid geopolitical situations that arise from centralized governance systems.
The current disillusionment with centralized governance has led many to explore alternative grassroots systems of organization such as anarcho-syndicalism, communalism, eco-communities, and others. However, these systems can often lead to long meetings and decision-making processes that require a more effective assembly-based structure.
An AI-assisted distributed grassroots governance system can provide a platform for communities to make decisions in a more efficient and inclusive manner, while still preserving the principles of grassroots democracy and participatory decision-making. By integrating an ethical framework that values sustainability, compassion, and equality, these communities can develop a more resilient and equitable system of governance that benefits everyone.
The decentralized protests of the 15M and Occupy movements were examples of grassroots democratic movements that emerged in response to perceived flaws in centralized political systems. These movements used horizontal decision-making methods such as consensus-building, direct democracy, and participatory assemblies to make decisions and organize actions. By empowering individuals and communities to take direct action and have a say in decision-making processes, these movements challenged traditional power structures and created new models of governance based on transparency, participation, and inclusivity.
Another example of a decentralized governance system is the Rojava region in northern Syria, which operates under the principles of democratic confederalism and libertarian municipalism. These systems prioritize local decision-making, community participation, and the promotion of social justice and gender equality. In Rojava, community assemblies and councils are the main decision-making bodies, with women's councils having a significant role in the governance structure. This system has been successful in creating a more equal and just society, despite facing significant challenges from external forces.
Barcelona under Ada Colau was an example of a lighter implementation of decentralized governance. Colau's administration has implemented policies that prioritize community participation, transparency, and social justice, including initiatives such as participatory budgeting and community-led urban planning. By empowering citizens to have a say in decisions that affect their lives, these policies have helped to create a more participatory and inclusive democracy.
These examples, especially now that they are struggling and under attack in the case of Rojava or AANES serve as inspiration for the development of an AI-assisted distributed governance system. By integrating an ethical framework that values participation, inclusivity, and transparency, this system can help to create a more equitable and just society. By leveraging the power of AI algorithms and distributed networks, this system can enable more efficient and accurate decision-making, as well as greater participation from citizens. Ultimately, this system has the potential to create a more resilient and sustainable society that benefits everyone.
This system allows for a more direct and participatory form of democracy beyond the scope of occasional referendums or government elections. It empowers individuals and communities to have a say in shaping the ethical framework around issues affecting their lives, such as healthcare, education, and energy production.
By using AI algorithms to help with decision-making, this system can be more efficient and accurate compared to traditional voting or political party-based systems. This could make participation more engaging and accessible, attracting a broader range of people to participate in the decision-making process.
In the long run, this kind of system could benefit society as a whole by promoting more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable decision-making processes. By providing a platform for collaboration and dialogue between different communities and stakeholders, AI-assisted distributed grassroots governance has the potential to create solutions to complex problems that benefit the wider global community.
However, with the advent of AI language models (LLMs), there is great potential to transform governance. Popularized by chatgpt and similar models, open-source implementations like PrivateGPT or GPT4All now allow anyone with a capable enough computer to run their own AI language model instance. Projects like Petals.dev extend this even further by creating a kind of bittorrent network of GPUs across the world, running large language models that can be used or even trained or fine tuned in various ways. This democratization of technology has the potential to revolutionize the way governments operate, although it may not necessarily mean making them more efficient, transparent, or responsive to the needs of citizens: the first way a political party or municipal employee might use a large language model could be to edit or analyse long bureaucratic documents, create press releases or social media posts, write translations or generally as time or money saving mechanisms. The next step might be investing in AI tools that further automate these functions such as the use of smart agents or online chatbots responding to citizen or electorate questions. It is not a huge stretch of the imagination that they could also start to think of data analysis, surveillance or other applications, which IT companies, having made extensive investments in these technologies, will be attempting to sell to them. So the net effect is the automation of many of the functions so far provided by paid staff. This is not a prediction for the future as people in government are already extensively using AI tools like ChatGPT itself.
With the right investments in technology and infrastructure, we can build a future where AI-powered governance works to benefit all members of society. This includes not only humans, but also animals and the entire ecosystem of living things that surrounds us, moving beyond the concept of a human-centric society.
Project CyberSyn was a pioneering effort in the field of decentralized planning and decision-making using computer technology. The project was developed in Chile during the government of Salvador Allende, with the aim of creating a more democratic and participatory economic system. Stafford Beer was the chief architect of the project, which used a network of telex machines and a centralized computer system to gather and process information from factories and other economic actors.
Unfortunately, the project was cut short by the military coup of Augusto Pinochet in 1973, and the computers used in the project were destroyed. However, the legacy of Project CyberSyn lives on, as an inspiration for those who seek to create more democratic and participatory systems of governance and decision-making.
The AI-based distributed governance system that we are discussing here can be seen as a continuation of the spirit of Project CyberSyn. Like CyberSyn, this system aims to use technology to create a more democratic and participatory system of decision-making, but with a focus on governance rather than economics.
The ethical framework of the AI-based distributed governance system is based on values such as sustainability, equality, and respect for all forms of life, like the values that underpinned Project CyberSyn. The system also aims to be decentralized and modular, allowing for greater participation and collaboration among communities and stakeholders.