Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI

This week on Reboot Democracy, Robert Asaro-Angelo explores how AI could help human services agencies reduce administrative burdens and improve benefits delivery. Dane Gambrell shares lessons from 50 global experts shaping a course on democratic engagement in the AI era. Neil Kleiman argues for “civic AI compacts” between cities and universities, while Sara Bazoobandi examines how Iran’s AI infrastructure, built for control, created strategic fragility. Beyond Reboot, Lawfare warns that U.S. military AI policy is increasingly governed through contracts rather than public law. Vietnam issued a national AI ethics framework, and the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission aims to accelerate scientific discovery with a new supercomputer expected to be operational by 2026. Officials tied to the Department of Government Efficiency used ChatGPT to help terminate over $100 million in humanities grants, and the National Guard is deploying AI tools for disaster response and operational planning.

Dr. Sara Bazoobandi examines how Iran’s doctrine of “knowledge jihad” shaped the development of its digital and AI infrastructure, transforming technology into an instrument of state control. The piece traces how this system, built for surveillance and centralized authority, has also created strategic fragility, offering a cautionary lesson for democracies designing the foundations of AI governance.

More than 50 practitioners, researchers, and civic technologists from 24 countries reviewed the draft curriculum for Designing Democratic Engagement for the AI Era, providing over 300 comments and suggestions. The feedback highlighted the need for clearer guidance on institutional readiness, trust, inclusion, and the risks and limits of AI in public participation. This post summarizes the key themes that emerged, explains how AI tools were used to synthesize the feedback, and outlines the next steps in developing the course.