Democracy, social media, and artificial intelligence

Abstract

Democracy is also communication. Those who act and operate in democratic regimes need to communicate. There has been a long historical trajectory, from the speeches delivered in the Greek Agora or the Roman Senate, through to the Modern Era and its printed newspapers, radio, television, and the beginning of the 21st century, with its digital social networks and artificial intelligence (AI), in which there has been a considerable expansion in the creation, flow, and access to information. Currently, one of the central dilemmas in politics is the ability of people to select their sources according to the integrity of the transformation of facts into journalistic or scientific content. The rise of social media has rapidly transformed political communication, altering the logic of conflict and modifying the behavior of actors and institutions. A new information culture is gaining prominence in contemporary democracies, deconstructing and leaving behind the logic of traditional communication flows.