AI's Role in Democracy: A Beneficial Perspective?
On Friday, February 21, 2025, the Simone Veil Amphitheater (28 Rue des Saints-Pères) will host the Sciences Po student conference, a thought-provoking event aimed at exploring the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on democracy. The conference will feature presentations from over twenty-five students from various disciplines and sectors, as well as panel discussions moderated by esteemed academics.
The event will consist of three panels: "Regulating AI", "AI for Inequalities", and "Citizens and AI: A Question of Trust". The first panel, "Regulating AI", will be moderated by Dr. Saurabh Mishra, Co-Founder and CEO of Taiyō.AI and a teacher at École urbaine. The panel will feature presentations from students Veronica Arroyo, Karin Hess, Gustavo Fonseca Ribeiro (Ecole d'affaires publiques), Shefali Mehra (EAP), and Marcus Woodcock (Ecole de droit).
The second panel, "AI for Inequalities", will be moderated by Valerie Peugeot, the pedagogical director of the Executive master Digital humanities. The panel will delve into the role of AI in potentially replicating and magnifying social and class inequalities, and its effects on democratic processes. Presentations will be given by students Clara Klint, Fumiki Kyo, Ramiz Huseynzada, Isha Hiremath, Romain Cabanes, Wenxi Jiang (Paris School of International Affairs), Martin Girardin (Ecole du Management et de l'Impact), and Giovanni Maggi, C. Mautner Markhof, L. Zurdo, B. Bromová, R. Rapparini (EAP).
The third panel, "Citizens and AI: A Question of Trust", will also be moderated by Dr. Saurabh Mishra. This panel will discuss strategies proposed by young European citizens to combat disinformation in democratic societies, based on consultation outcomes from diverse European countries such as France, Germany, Moldova, and Romania. Presentations will be given by students Eleonora Bonel, Aahil Sheikh, Stavroula Chousou, Kai Mütschele, Marta Antunes, My-Han Trinh, Janina Morstin, and Julio Vazquez Aguilar.
The event will be conducted in both English and French, and will offer a critical and constructive view of young people on the democratic issues linked to AI. Following the event, the Open Institute for Digital Transformations will release a "Special AI Summit" issue of Sciences Po's new student review.
The Sciences Po student conference is part of a broader set of events organized around the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit and related initiatives by Sciences Po in 2025. These initiatives include programs like "Democratic Commons", a research program aiming to build AI in service of democracy, and a related summer school offering a two-week online negotiations bootcamp on the "Risks and Regulations of Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies".
In conclusion, the 2025 Sciences Po student conference will engage with AI’s societal impacts focusing on democratic benefits, threats from misinformation, structural inequalities caused or amplified by AI, and youth-driven democratic innovations. Attendees can look forward to a stimulating and informative discussion on the role of AI in shaping our democratic future.
[1] Further information on the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit and related initiatives by Sciences Po in 2025 can be found at [link to source].
[2] Information on the "Democratic Commons" research program can be found at [link to source].
[3] Information on the related summer school can be found at [link to source].
- The Sciences Po student conference, taking place at the Simone Veil Amphitheater on February 21, 2025, will delve into the role of artificial-intelligence (AI) in education-and-self-development, particularly focusing on its impact on democracy, the potential for disinformation, and the amplification of social inequalities.
- In the wake of the conference, a special issue of Sciences Po's student review will be released, focusing on AI and its societal implications, as part of a broader set of initiatives by Sciences Po in 2025, including a research program called "Democratic Commons" aimed at building AI in service of democracy, and a summer school offering a two-week online bootcamp on the "Risks and Regulations of Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies."
