The increasing adoption of AI profoundly changes the informational foundations of societies. What does this mean for the functioning of liberal democracy, specifically in terms of responsiveness and accountability? The present paper addresses this question by discussing how capabilities of AI affect the informational requirements of the democratic process. Based on a systems theory perspective, the consequences of AI are shown to be wide-ranging. AI can reduce or increase information deficits of both citizens and decision-makers on the input, throughout, and output level of the political system. While the challenges that AI creates for democratic responsiveness and accountability have a novel technological dimension, they are nonetheless in continuity with existing transparency and accountability problems. Avoiding a negative impact will require institutionalizing suitable governance mechanisms – a task that is challenging already at the throughout and output level, but particularly difficult, and important, at the input level of politics.

越来越多地采用AI深刻地改变了社会的信息基础。这对自由民主的运作意味着什么，特别是在响应能力和责任制方面？本文通过讨论AI的能力如何影响民主过程的信息要求来解决这个问题。从系统理论的角度来看，人工智能的影响范围很广。人工智能可以减少或增加公民和决策者在政治系统的整个投入和产出水平上的信息赤字。尽管AI为民主回应和问责制带来的挑战具有新颖的技术层面，但它们仍与现有的透明度和问责制问题保持连续。