{{short description|Alternative form of government or social ordering}} {{Distinguish|Regulation of algorithms|E-government|Cyberocracy}} {{Government by algorithm}} {{Governance|Models}}
'''Government by algorithm'''<ref name="sstandford">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Government by Algorithm: A Review and an Agenda |url=https://law.stanford.edu/publications/government-by-algorithm-a-review-and-an-agenda/ |access-date=20 March 2020 |website=Stanford Law School}}</ref> encompasses a range of approaches involving the application of computer algorithms to aspects of society and governance. This term, also referred to as '''algorithmic regulation''',<ref name="medina">{{cite journal |last1=Medina |first1=Eden |date=2015 |title=Rethinking algorithmic regulation. |url=http://wosc.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Medina-Rethinking-Algorithmic-Regulation.pdf |journal=Kybernetes |volume=44 |issue=6/7 |pages=1005–1019 |doi=10.1108/K-02-2015-0052}}</ref> '''regulation by algorithms''', '''algorithmic governance''',<ref name="Engin">{{cite journal |last1=Engin |first1=Zeynep |last2=Treleaven |first2=Philip |date=March 2019 |title=Algorithmic Government: Automating Public Services and Supporting Civil Servants in using Data Science Technologies |journal=The Computer Journal |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=448–460 |doi=10.1093/comjnl/bxy082 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blankenship |first1=Joe |date=2020 |title=Algorithmic Governance |journal=International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Second Edition) |pages=105–109 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-102295-5.10509-8 |isbn=978-0-08-102296-2}}</ref> '''algocratic governance''', '''algorithmic legal order''', or '''algocracy''',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Danaher |first1=John |date=1 September 2016 |title=The Threat of Algocracy: Reality, Resistance and Accommodation |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-015-0211-1 |journal=Philosophy & Technology |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=245–268 |doi=10.1007/s13347-015-0211-1 |issn=2210-5441 |s2cid=146674621 |access-date=26 January 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> describes the use of algorithms to influence or govern sectors such as law enforcement, transportation, and land registration.<ref name="karen">{{cite journal |last1=Yeung |first1=Karen |date=December 2018 |title=Algorithmic regulation: A critical interrogation |journal=Regulation & Governance |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=505–523 |doi=10.1111/rego.12158 |s2cid=157086008 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Katzenbach |first1=Christian |last2=Ulbricht |first2=Lena |date=29 November 2019 |title=Algorithmic governance |url=https://policyreview.info/concepts/algorithmic-governance |journal=Internet Policy Review |volume=8 |issue=4 |doi=10.14763/2019.4.1424 |hdl=10419/210652 |issn=2197-6775 |access-date=19 March 2020 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abril |first1=Rubén Rodríguez |title=DERECOM. Derecho de la Comunicación. – An approach to the algorithmic legal order and to its civil, trade and financial projection |url=http://www.derecom.com/secciones/articulos-de-fondo/item/398-an-approach-to-the-algorithmic-legal-order-and-to-its-civil-trade-and-financial-projection |language=es-es |access-date=20 May 2020 |website=www.derecom.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rule by Algorithm? Big Data and the Threat of Algocracy |url=https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/danaher20140107 |access-date=20 May 2020 |work=ieet.org}}</ref><ref name="algocracyblockchain">{{citation |last1=Werbach |first1=Kevin |title=The Siren Song: Algorithmic Governance By Blockchain |date=24 September 2018 |publisher=Social Science Research Network |ssrn=3578610}}.</ref> The term "government by algorithm" was first introduced in academic literature in 2013 as an alternative for "algorithmic governance".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williamson |first1=Ben |date=January 2013 |title=Decoding identity: Reprogramming pedagogic identities through algorithmic governance |url=https://www.academia.edu/4477644 |url-status=dead |journal=British Educational Research Association Conference |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201356/https://www.academia.edu/4477644 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> A related term, algorithmic regulation, involves the use of computational algorithms to set standards, monitor, and modify behavior within specific contexts, such as the automation of the judiciary.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hildebrandt |first1=Mireille |date=6 August 2018 |title=Algorithmic regulation and the rule of law |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |volume=376 |issue=2128 |bibcode=2018RSPTA.37670355H |doi=10.1098/rsta.2017.0355 |hdl=2066/200765 |pmid=30082301 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |article-number=20170355}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flórez Rojas |first1=María Lorena |title=Algocracy in the Judiciary: Challenging Trust in the System |journal=Revista de Estudios Sociales |date=2025 |volume=93 |issue=03 |pages=107–128 |doi=10.7440/res93.2025.06 |doi-access=free|hdl=11370/358c6991-3b32-4915-9e02-46fdea8c6c33 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
Government by algorithm raises challenges that are not fully addressed in the existing e-government literature or public administration practice.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Veale |first1=Michael |last2=Brass |first2=Irina |date=2019 |title=Administration by Algorithm? Public Management Meets Public Sector Machine Learning |publisher=Social Science Research Network |ssrn=3375391}}</ref> Some sources equate cyberocracy, which is a hypothetical form of government that rules by the effective use of information,<ref>{{cite web |author=David Ronfeldt |date=1991 |title=Cyberocracy, Cyberspace, and Cyberology:Political Effects of the Information Revolution |url=http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/papers/2008/P7745.pdf |access-date=12 Dec 2014 |publisher=RAND Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=David Ronfeldt |date=1992 |title=Cyberocracy is Coming |url=http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2007/RAND_RP222.pdf |access-date=12 Dec 2014 |publisher=RAND Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Ronfeldt |first1=David |title=The Prospects for Cyberocracy (Revisited) |date=1 December 2008 |publisher=Social Science Research Network |ssrn=1325809 |last2=Varda |first2=Danielle}}.</ref> with algorithmic governance, although algorithms are not the only means of processing information.<ref>{{cite web |last=Shah |first=Bimal Pratap |date=July 4, 2019 |title=Transparency in governance, through cyberocracy |url=https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2019/07/04/transparency-in-governance-through-cyberocracy |access-date=25 April 2020 |website=The Kathmandu Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hudson |first1=Alex |date=28 August 2019 |title='Far more than surveillance' is happening and could change how government is run |url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/28/far-more-than-surveillance-is-already-in-place-and-cyberocracy-could-change-how-government-is-run-10637802/ |access-date=25 April 2020 |website=Metro}}</ref> Nello Cristianini and Teresa Scantamburlo argued that the combination of a human society and certain regulation algorithms (such as reputation-based scoring) forms a social machine.<ref name="socialmachine">{{cite journal |last1=Cristianini |first1=Nello |last2=Scantamburlo |first2=Teresa |date=8 October 2019 |title=On social machines for algorithmic regulation |journal=AI & Society |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=645–662 |arxiv=1904.13316 |bibcode=2019arXiv190413316C |doi=10.1007/s00146-019-00917-8 |issn=1435-5655 |s2cid=140233845}}</ref>
==History== [[File:CyberSyn-render-103.png|thumb|Computer-generated image of Project Cybersyn operations room]] thumb|LEGOL Group (1977) [[File:-rpTEN - Tag 3 (26745091551).jpg|thumb|''"Blockchain and the future of governance. Let's overcome the hype and understand what can be done."'' with Andrea Bauer, Boris Moshkovits und Shermin Voshmgir at re:publica]]
In 1962, the director of the Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow (later Kharkevich Institute),<ref>{{cite web |title=Organisations: Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Kharkevich Institute): Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Kharkevich Institute), Moscow, Russia |url=http://www.mathnet.ru/php/organisation.phtml?orgid=5026&option_lang=eng |access-date=24 March 2021 |website=www.mathnet.ru}}</ref> Alexander Kharkevich, published an article in the journal "Communist" about a computer network for processing information and control of the economy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Machine of communism. Why the USSR did not create the Internet |url=http://csef.ru/en/politica-i-geopolitica/223/mashiny-kommunizma-pochemu-v-sssr-tak-i-ne-sozdali-svoj-internet-6983 |access-date=21 March 2020 |website=csef.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kharkevich |first1=Aleksandr Aleksandrovich |title=Theory of information. The identification of the images. Selected works in three volumes. Volume 3 |date=1973 |publisher=Moscow: Publishing House "Nauka", 1973. – Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Institute of information transmission problems |location=Information and technology |pages=495–508}}</ref> He proposed a computer network resembling aspects of the modern Internet for the purposes of algorithmic governance (Project OGAS). This proposal raised concerns among CIA analysts.<ref name="cyberthreat">{{cite news |last1=Gerovitch |first1=Slava |date=9 April 2015 |title=How the Computer Got Its Revenge on the Soviet Union |url=https://nautil.us/issue/23/dominoes/how-the-computer-got-its-revenge-on-the-soviet-union |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922175839/https://nautil.us/issue/23/Dominoes/how-the-computer-got-its-revenge-on-the-soviet-union |archive-date=22 September 2021 |access-date=19 September 2021 |work=Nautilus}}</ref> In particular, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. warned that ''"by 1970 the USSR may have a radically new production technology, involving total enterprises or complexes of industries, managed by closed-loop, feedback control employing self-teaching computers"''.<ref name=cyberthreat/>
Between 1971 and 1973, the Chilean government carried out Project Cybersyn during the presidency of Salvador Allende. This project was aimed at constructing a distributed decision support system to improve the management of the national economy.<ref>{{cite web |title=IU professor analyzes Chile's 'Project Cybersyn' |url=http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/11088.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910060602/http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/11088.html |archive-date=10 September 2009 |access-date=27 May 2013 |publisher=UI News Room}}</ref><ref name=medina/> Elements of the project were used in 1972 to successfully overcome the traffic collapse caused by a CIA-sponsored strike of forty thousand truck drivers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Medina |first1=Eden |date=1 January 2015 |title=Rethinking algorithmic regulation |journal=Kybernetes |volume=44 |issue=6/7 |pages=1005–1019 |doi=10.1108/K-02-2015-0052}}</ref> Besides that initial project, its architect, Stafford Beer was involved in similar cybernetic projects across Latin America during the 1980s and 1990s, as the region gradually returned to democracy, particularly in Uruguay and Colombia, in which his Viable System Model's (VSM) was applied.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mariátegui |first=José-Carlos |date=June 2025 |title=Beyond Project Cybersyn: Tracing the Influence of Stafford Beer Projects and Ideas in Latin America |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11213-025-09717-2 |journal=Systemic Practice and Action Research |language=en |volume=38 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/s11213-025-09717-2 |issn=1094-429X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Also in the 1960s and 1970s, Herbert A. Simon championed expert systems as tools for rationalization and evaluation of administrative behavior.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Freeman Engstrom |first1=David |last2=Ho |first2=Daniel E. |last3=Sharkey |first3=Catherine M. |last4=Cuéllar |first4=Mariano-Florentino |date=2020 |title=Government by Algorithm: Artificial Intelligence in Federal Administrative Agencies |url=https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ACUS-AI-Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815021400/https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ACUS-AI-Report.pdf |archive-date=2022-08-15 |access-date=2020-03-26}}</ref> The automation of rule-based processes was an ambition of tax agencies over many decades resulting in varying success.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Margretts |first1=Helen |author-link1=Helen Margetts |title=Information technology in government : Britain and America |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780203208038 |location=New York}}</ref> Early work from this period includes Thorne McCarty's influential TAXMAN project<ref name="mccarty">{{cite journal |last=McCarty |first=L. Thorne |year=1977 |title=Reflections on Taxman: An Experiment in Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning |journal=Harvard Law Review |pages=837–893 |doi=10.2307/1340132 |jstor=1340132 }}</ref> in the US and Ronald Stamper's LEGOL project<ref name="stamper77">{{cite journal |last=Stamper |first=Ronald K. |year=1977 |title=The LEGOL 1 prototype system and language |journal=The Computer Journal |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=102–108 |doi=10.1093/comjnl/20.2.102 }}</ref> in the UK. In 1993, the computer scientist Paul Cockshott from the University of Glasgow and the economist Allin Cottrell from the Wake Forest University published the book ''Towards a New Socialism'', where they claim to demonstrate the possibility of a democratically planned economy built on modern computer technology.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cockshott |first1=W. Paul |title=Towards a new socialism |date=1993 |publisher=Spokesman |isbn=978-0851245454 |location=Nottingham, England}}</ref> The Honourable Justice Michael Kirby published a paper in 1998, where he expressed optimism that the then-available computer technologies such as legal expert system could evolve to computer systems, which will strongly affect the practice of courts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirby |first1=Michael |date=1998 |title=The Future of Courts – Do They Have One |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jlinfos9&div=19&id=&page= |journal=Journal of Law and Information Science |volume=9 |page=141 |access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref> In 2006, attorney Lawrence Lessig, known for the slogan "Code is law", wrote:
<blockquote>[T]he invisible hand of cyberspace is building an architecture that is quite the opposite of its architecture at its birth. This invisible hand, pushed by government and by commerce, is constructing an architecture that will perfect control and make highly efficient regulation possible<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lawrence |first1=Lessig |author-link1=Lawrence Lessig |title=Code |date=2006 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-03914-2 |edition=Version 2.0}}</ref></blockquote>
Since the 2000s, algorithms have been designed and used to automatically analyze surveillance videos.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sodemann |first1=Angela A. |last2=Ross |first2=Matthew P. |last3=Borghetti |first3=Brett J. |date=November 2012 |title=A Review of Anomaly Detection in Automated Surveillance |journal=IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews) |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=1257–1272 |bibcode=2012ITHMS..42.1257S |doi=10.1109/TSMCC.2012.2215319 |s2cid=15466712}}</ref>
In his 2006 book ''Virtual Migration'', A. Aneesh developed the concept of algocracy — information technologies constrain human participation in public decision making.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelty |first1=Christopher |date=2009 |title=Explaining IT |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24497537 |journal=Political and Legal Anthropology Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=156–160 |doi=10.1111/j.1555-2934.2009.01035.x |issn=1081-6976 |jstor=24497537 |url-access=subscription |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Danaher |first1=John |date=September 2016 |title=The Threat of Algocracy: Reality, Resistance and Accommodation |url=https://philarchive.org/rec/DANTTO-13 |journal=Philosophy & Technology |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=245–268 |doi=10.1007/s13347-015-0211-1 |s2cid=146674621}}</ref> Aneesh differentiated algocratic systems from bureaucratic systems (legal-rational regulation) as well as market-based systems (price-based regulation).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aneesh |first1=A. |url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/Virtual-Migration/ |title=Virtual Migration: the Programming of Globalization. |date=2006 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-3669-3 |access-date=2020-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414082217/https://www.dukeupress.edu/virtual-migration |archive-date=2022-04-14 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2013, the concept of algorithmic regulation was popularized by Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media:
<blockquote>Sometimes the "rules" aren't really even rules. Gordon Bruce, the former CIO of the city of Honolulu, explained to me that when he entered government from the private sector and tried to make changes, he was told, "That's against the law." His reply was "OK. Show me the law." "Well, it isn't really a law. It's a regulation." "OK. Show me the regulation." "Well, it isn't really a regulation. It's a policy that was put in place by Mr. Somebody twenty years ago." "Great. We can change that!" [...] Laws should specify goals, rights, outcomes, authorities, and limits. If specified broadly, those laws can stand the test of time. Regulations, which specify how to execute those laws in much more detail, should be regarded in much the same way that programmers regard their code and algorithms, that is, as a constantly updated toolset to achieve the outcomes specified in the laws. [...] It's time for government to enter the age of big data. Algorithmic regulation is an idea whose time has come.<ref name="timoreilly">{{cite book |last1=O'Reilly |first1=Tim |author-link1=Tim O'Reilly |title=Beyond Transparency: open Data and the Future of Civic Innovation |date=2013 |publisher=Code for America Press |editor1-last=Goldstein |editor1-first=B. |location=San Francisco |pages=289–300 |chapter=Open Data and Algorithmic Regulation |editor2-last=Dyson |editor2-first=L.}}</ref></blockquote>
In 2017, Ukraine's Ministry of Justice ran experimental government auctions using blockchain technology to ensure transparency and hinder corruption in governmental transactions.<ref name=ukrainereuteers/> "Government by Algorithm?" was the central theme introduced at Data for Policy 2017 conference held on 6–7 September 2017 in London.<ref>{{cite web |title=Data for Policy 2017 |url=https://dataforpolicy.org/data-for-policy-2017/ |access-date=23 January 2021 |website=Data for Policy CIC}}</ref>
==Examples== ===Smart cities=== [[File:Architecture-of-the-IoT-for-home-care-systems.jpg|thumb|Architecture of the IoT for home care systems]]
A smart city is an urban area where collected surveillance data is used to improve various operations. Increases in computational power allow more automated decision-making and replacement of public agencies by algorithmic governance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brauneis |first1=Robert |last2=Goodman |first2=Ellen P. |date=1 January 2018 |title=Algorithmic Transparency for the Smart City |url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-544510684/algorithmic-transparency-for-the-smart-city |url-status=dead |journal=Yale Journal of Law & Technology |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=103 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815021439/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia |archive-date=15 August 2022 |access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref> In particular, the combined use of artificial intelligence and blockchains for IoT may lead to the creation of sustainable smart city ecosystems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Saurabh |last2=Sharma |first2=Pradip Kumar |last3=Yoon |first3=Byungun |last4=Shojafar |first4=Mohammad |last5=Cho |first5=Gi Hwan |last6=Ra |first6=In-Ho |date=1 December 2020 |title=Convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence in IoT network for the sustainable smart city |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210670720305850 |journal=Sustainable Cities and Society |volume=63 |bibcode=2020SusCS..6302364S |doi=10.1016/j.scs.2020.102364 |issn=2210-6707 |s2cid=225022879 |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 March 2021 |article-number=102364}}</ref> Intelligent street lighting in Glasgow is an example of successful government application of AI algorithms.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Allison |title=Don't write off government algorithms – responsible AI can produce real benefits |url=https://theconversation.com/dont-write-off-government-algorithms-responsible-ai-can-produce-real-benefits-145895 |access-date=1 April 2021 |work=The Conversation}}</ref> A study of smart city initiatives in the US shows that it requires public sector as a main organizer and coordinator, the private sector as a technology and infrastructure provider, and universities as expertise contributors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morrow |first1=Garrett |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/6785af5e14f63d5e91d47b76337e4aec |title=The Robot in City Hall: The Limitations, Structure, and Governance of Smart City Technology Regimes |date=2022 |language=en |id={{ProQuest|<!-- add ProQuest data here -->}}}}</ref>
The cryptocurrency millionaire Jeffrey Berns proposed the operation of local governments in Nevada by tech firms in 2021.<ref name="nevada">{{cite news |date=18 March 2021 |title=Nevada smart city: A millionaire's plan to create a local government |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56409924 |access-date=24 March 2021 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Berns bought 67,000 acres (271 km<sup>2</sup>) in Nevada's rural Storey County (population 4,104) for $170,000,000 (£121,000,000) in 2018 in order to develop a smart city with more than 36,000 residents that could generate an annual output of $4,600,000,000.<ref name=nevada/> Cryptocurrency would be allowed for payments.<ref name=nevada/> Blockchains, Inc. "Innovation Zone" was canceled in September 2021 after it failed to secure enough water<ref>{{Cite web |last=Independent |first=Daniel Rothberg {{!}} The Nevada |title=Blockchains, Inc. withdraws 'Innovation Zone' plan for Storey County |url=https://www.nnbw.com/news/2021/oct/12/blockchains-inc-withdraws-innovation-zone-plan-sto/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=www.nnbw.com}}</ref> for the planned 36,000 residents, through water imports from a site located 100 miles away in the neighboring Washoe County.<ref name="thenevadaindependent.com">{{Cite web |date=12 February 2021 |title=Months before a company lobbied the Legislature to create its own county, it purchased faraway water rights that could fuel future growth |url=https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/months-before-a-company-lobbied-the-legislature-to-create-its-own-county-it-purchased-faraway-water-rights-that-could-fuel-future-growth |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=The Nevada Independent |language=en}}</ref> A similar water pipeline proposed in 2007 was estimated to cost $100 million and would have taken about 10 years to develop.<ref name="thenevadaindependent.com"/> With additional water rights purchased from Tahoe Reno Industrial General Improvement District, "Innovation Zone" would have acquired enough water for about 15,400 homes – meaning that it would have barely covered its planned 15,000 dwelling units, leaving nothing for the rest of the projected city and its 22 million square-feet of industrial development.<ref name="thenevadaindependent.com"/>
In Saudi Arabia, the planners of The Line assert that it will be monitored by AI to improve life by using data and predictive modeling.<ref>{{cite news |title=Saudi Arabia is planning a 100-mile line of car-free smart communities |url=https://www.engadget.com/the-line-neom-smart-city-saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman-113539487.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMcI4yDl2upDPXrWiYcCTvvnvLTYKdun8IrX9Z5qdG4mnuWTzhJXw6ImGxBrHyoFm8THyrYuJAnCXujn6nMP5RtPji43N5A0iz5T2qguDg1q8342WV8_PitetSew8vJ9bA-5qKIjexmcriDG6I84NBwoIgZbzR_BlQhWICkM5Jk3 |access-date=18 May 2022 |work=Engadget}}</ref>
===Reputation systems=== {{See also|Credit score}} thumb|Model of cybernetic thinking about organisation. On the one hand in reality a system is determined. On the other hand, cybernetic factory can be modeled as a control system.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Cybernetic and Management |date=1959 |publisher=English Universities Press |chapter=XVI}}</ref>
Tim O'Reilly suggested that data sources and reputation systems combined in algorithmic regulation can outperform traditional regulations.<ref name=timoreilly/> For instance, once taxi-drivers are rated by passengers, the quality of their services will improve automatically and "drivers who provide poor service are eliminated".<ref name=timoreilly/> O'Reilly's suggestion is based on the control-theoretic concept of feed-back loop—improvements and disimprovements of reputation enforce desired behavior.<ref name=socialmachine/> The usage of feedback-loops for the management of social systems has already been suggested in management cybernetics by Stafford Beer before.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beer |first1=Stafford |author-link1=Stafford Beer |title=Platform for change : a message from Stafford Beer. |date=1975 |publisher=J. Wiley |isbn=978-0471948407}}</ref>
These connections are explored by Nello Cristianini and Teresa Scantamburlo, where the reputation-credit scoring system is modeled as an incentive given to the citizens and computed by a social machine, so that rational agents would be motivated to increase their score by adapting their behaviour. Several ethical aspects of that technology are still being discussed.<ref name=socialmachine/>
China's Social Credit System was said to be a mass surveillance effort with a centralized numerical score for each citizen given for their actions, though newer reports say that this is a widespread misconception.<ref name=":46">{{Cite web |date=11 February 2022 |title=China's social credit score – untangling myth from reality {{!}} Merics |url=https://merics.org/en/opinion/chinas-social-credit-score-untangling-myth-reality |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=merics.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="jamestown_2110">{{cite journal |last1=Daum |first1=Jeremy |date=8 October 2021 |title=Far From a Panopticon, Social Credit Focuses on Legal Violations |url=https://jamestown.org/program/far-from-a-panopticon-social-credit-focuses-on-legal-violations/ |journal=China Brief |volume=21 |issue=19 |access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="diplomat_2103">{{cite web |title=China's Social Credit System: Speculation vs. Reality |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/chinas-social-credit-system-speculation-vs-reality/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330122252/https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/chinas-social-credit-system-speculation-vs-reality/ |archive-date=30 March 2021 |website=The Diplomat}}</ref>
===Smart contracts=== Smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized autonomous organization are mentioned as means to replace traditional ways of governance.<ref name="indiadao">{{cite news |last1=Bindra |first1=Jaspreet |date=30 March 2018 |title=Transforming India through blockchain |url=https://www.livemint.com/Technology/UZIex6fPPyAqVuTHqpzZiN/Transforming-India-through-blockchain.html |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=Livemint}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Finn |first1=Ed |date=10 April 2017 |title=Do digital currencies spell the end of capitalism? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2017/apr/10/do-digital-currencies-spell-the-end-of-capitalism |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name=algocracyblockchain/> Cryptocurrencies are currencies which are enabled by algorithms without a governmental central bank.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reiff |first1=Nathan |title=Blockchain Explained |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp |access-date=31 May 2020 |website=Investopedia}}</ref> Central bank digital currency often employs similar technology, but is differentiated from the fact that it does use a central bank. It is being explored or implemented by governments and institutions, including the European Union and China. Smart contracts are self-executable contracts, whose objectives are the reduction of need in trusted governmental intermediators, arbitrations and enforcement costs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Szabo |first1=Nick |author-link1=Nick Szabo |date=1997 |title=View of Formalizing and Securing Relationships on Public Networks |url=https://firstmonday.org/article/view/548/469 |url-status=dead |journal=First Monday |doi=10.5210/fm.v2i9.548 |s2cid=33773111 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410235953/https://firstmonday.org/article/view/548/469 |archive-date=2022-04-10 |access-date=2020-05-31 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="conbook">{{cite book |last1=Fries |first1=Martin |title=Smart Contracts |last2=P. Paal |first2=Boris |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-16-156911-1 |language=de |jstor=j.ctvn96h9r}}</ref> A decentralized autonomous organization is an organization represented by smart contracts that is transparent, controlled by shareholders and not influenced by a central government.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is DAO – Decentralized Autonomous Organizations |url=https://blockchainhub.net/dao-decentralized-autonomous-organization/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524103723/https://blockchainhub.net/dao-decentralized-autonomous-organization/ |archive-date=24 May 2020 |access-date=31 May 2020 |website=BlockchainHub}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Prusty |first=Narayan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=80EwDwAAQBAJ |title=Building Blockchain Projects |date=27 Apr 2017 |publisher=Packt |isbn=9781787125339 |location=Birmingham, UK |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Chohan |first1=Usman W. |title=The Decentralized Autonomous Organization and Governance Issues |date=4 December 2017 |publisher=Social Science Research Network |ssrn=3082055}}.</ref> Smart contracts have been discussed for use in such applications as use in (temporary) employment contracts<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Oranburg |first1=Seth |last2=Palagashvili |first2=Liya |date=October 22, 2018 |title=The Gig Economy, Smart Contracts, and Disruption of Traditional Work Arrangements |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3270867 |via=Social Science Research Network |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3270867 |ssrn=3270867}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Blockchain-Based Decentralized System for Proper Handling of Temporary Employment Contracts |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328657407}}</ref> and automatic transfership of funds and property (i.e. inheritance, upon registration of a death certificate).<ref>{{Cite web |title=How blockchain technology could change our lives |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2017/581948/EPRS_IDA(2017)581948_EN.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Official |first=Illuminates |date=September 11, 2019 |title=Business inheritance in blockchain |url=https://medium.com/@illuminatesofficial/business-inheritance-in-blockchain-b3fab4613c8c}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Are Coming to Kill These 4 Small Business Verticals |url=https://www.inc.com/chris-j-snook/4-small-business-verticals-artificial-intelligence-blockchain-will-destroy-in-coming-decade.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Silent Notary - Blockchain Notary Service 100% events falsification protection |url=https://silentnotary.com/#project |website=silentnotary.com}}</ref> Some countries such as Georgia and Sweden have already launched blockchain programs focusing on property (land titles and real estate ownership)<ref name="ukrainereuteers">{{cite news |last1=Chavez-Dreyfuss |first1=Gertrude |date=17 April 2017 |title=Ukraine launches big blockchain deal with tech firm Bitfury |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-bitfury-blockchain-idUSKBN17F0N2 |access-date=15 August 2021 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bitfury Group and Government of Republic of Georgia Expand Blockchain Pilot |url=https://bitfury.com/content/downloads/the_bitfury_group_republic_of_georgia_expand_blockchain_pilot_2_7_16.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shang |first1=Qiuyun |last2=Price |first2=Allison |date=January 2019 |title=A Blockchain-Based Land Titling Project in the Republic of Georgia: Rebuilding Public Trust and Lessons for Future Pilot Projects |url=https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/inov_a_00276 |journal=Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization |volume=12 |issue=3–4 |pages=72–78 |doi=10.1162/inov_a_00276 |issn=1558-2477 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303050326/https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/inov_a_00276 |archive-date=2021-03-03|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital Transformation: Blockchain and Land Titles |url=https://www.oecd.org/corruption/integrity-forum/academic-papers/Georg%20Eder-%20Blockchain%20-%20Ghana_verified.pdf}}</ref> Ukraine is also looking at other areas too such as state registers.<ref name=ukrainereuteers/>
===Algorithms in government agencies=== {{See also|Artificial intelligence in government}} thumb|Team Rubicon in the Rockaways Nov 12, 2012 – Palantir screenshot
According to a study of Stanford University, 45% of the studied US federal agencies have experimented with AI and related machine learning (ML) tools up to 2020.<ref name=sstandford/> US federal agencies counted the number of artificial intelligence applications, which are listed below.<ref name=sstandford/> 53% of these applications were produced by in-house experts.<ref name=sstandford/> Commercial providers of residual applications include Palantir Technologies.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions And Key Clients |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/11/leaked-palantir-doc-reveals-uses-specific-functions-and-key-clients/ |access-date=22 April 2020 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Agency name !! Number of use cases |- | Office of Justice Programs || 12 |- | Securities and Exchange Commission || 10 |- | National Aeronautics and Space Administration || 9 |- | Food and Drug Administration || 8 |- | United States Geological Survey || 8 |- | United States Postal Service || 8 |- | Social Security Administration || 7 |- | United States Patent and Trademark Office || 6 |- | Bureau of Labor Statistics || 5 |- | U.S. Customs and Border Protection || 4 |}
In 2012, NOPD started a collaboration with Palantir Technologies in the field of predictive policing.<ref name="verge">{{cite news |last1=Winston |first1=Ali |date=27 February 2018 |title=Palantir has secretly been using New Orleans to test its predictive policing technology |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/27/17054740/palantir-predictive-policing-tool-new-orleans-nopd |access-date=23 April 2020 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Besides Palantir's Gotham software, other similar (numerical analysis software) used by police agencies (such as the NCRIC) include SAS.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haskins |first=Caroline |date=July 12, 2019 |title=300 Californian Cities Secretly Have Access to Palantir |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/300-californian-cities-secretly-have-access-to-palantir/}}</ref>
In the fight against money laundering, FinCEN employs the FinCEN Artificial Intelligence System (FAIS) since 1995.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Senator |first1=Ted E. |last2=Wong |first2=Raphael W.H. |last3=Marrone |first3=Michael P. |last4=Llamas |first4=Winston M. |last5=Klinger |first5=Christina D. |last6=Khan |first6=A.F. Umar |last7=Cottini |first7=Matthew A. |last8=Goldberg |first8=Henry G. |last9=Wooton |first9=Jerry |title=The FinCEN Artificial Intelligence System: Identifying Potential Money Laundering from Reports of Large Cash Transactions |url=https://www.aaai.org/Library/IAAI/1995/iaai95-015.php |journal=AAAI |access-date=10 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldberg |first1=H. G. |title=Agent Technology: Foundations, Applications, and Markets |last2=Senator |first2=T. E. |date=1998 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-08344-0 |pages=283–302 |language=en |chapter=The FinCEN AI System: Finding Financial Crimes in a Large Database of Cash Transactions |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-03678-5_15 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-03678-5_15}}</ref>
National health administration entities and organisations such as AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) hold medical records. Medical records serve as the central repository for planning patient care and documenting communication among patient and health care provider and professionals contributing to the patient's care. In the EU, work is ongoing on a European Health Data Space which supports the use of health data.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press corner |url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en |website=European Commission}}</ref>
US Department of Homeland Security has employed the software ATLAS, which run on Amazon Cloud. It scanned more than 16.5 million records of naturalized Americans and flagged approximately 124,000 of them for manual analysis and review by USCIS officers regarding denaturalization.<ref name="debal">{{cite news |last1=Biddle |first1=Sam |last2=Saleh |first2=Maryam |date=August 25, 2021 |title=Little-Known Federal Software Can Trigger Revocation of Citizenship |url=https://theintercept.com/2021/08/25/atlas-citizenship-denaturalization-homeland-security/ |access-date=21 September 2021 |work=The Intercept}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=16 October 2019 |title=Cuccinelli Announces USCIS' FY 2019 Accomplishments and Efforts to Implement President Trump's Goals |url=https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/cuccinelli-announces-uscis-fy-2019-accomplishments-and-efforts-to-implement-president-trumps-goals |access-date=21 September 2021 |website=USCIS}}</ref> They were flagged due to potential fraud, public safety and national security issues. Some of the scanned data came from Terrorist Screening Database and National Crime Information Center.
The NarxCare is a US software,{{Sfn |Szalavitz |2021 |p=41}} which combines data from the prescription registries of various U.S. states{{Sfn |Szalavitz |2021 |p=40}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Romo |first=Vanessa |date=2018-05-08 |title=Walmart Will Implement New Opioid Prescription Limits By End Of Summer |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/08/609442939/walmart-will-implement-new-opioid-prescription-limits-by-end-of-summer |access-date=2021-10-06 |work=NPR}}</ref> and uses machine learning to generate various three-digit "risk scores" for prescriptions of medications and an overall "Overdose Risk Score", collectively referred to as Narx Scores,{{Sfn |Oliva |2020 |p=847}} in a process that potentially includes EMS and criminal justice data{{Sfn |Szalavitz |2021 |p=41}} as well as court records.{{Sfn |Oliva |2020 |p=848}}
In Estonia, artificial intelligence is used in its e-government to make it more automated and seamless. A virtual assistant will guide citizens through any interactions they have with the government. Automated and proactive services "push" services to citizens at key events of their lives (including births, bereavements, unemployment). One example is the automated registering of babies when they are born.<ref>See section on smart contracts; this is possible by means of a digital birth certificate, triggering a smart contract</ref> Estonia's X-Road system will also be rebuilt to include even more privacy control and accountability into the way the government uses citizen's data.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 20, 2019 |title=Exclusive: Estonia's vision for an 'invisible government' |url=https://govinsider.asia/innovation/marten-kaevats-national-digital-advisor-estonias-vision-for-an-invisible-government/}}</ref>
In Costa Rica, the possible digitalization of public procurement activities (i.e. tenders for public works) has been investigated. The paper discussing this possibility mentions that the use of ICT in procurement has several benefits such as increasing transparency, facilitating digital access to public tenders, reducing direct interaction between procurement officials and companies at moments of high integrity risk, increasing outreach and competition, and easier detection of irregularities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Countries |url=https://www.oecd.org/en/countries.html |website=OECD}}</ref>
Besides using e-tenders for regular public works (construction of buildings, roads), e-tenders can also be used for reforestation projects and other carbon sink restoration projects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Procurement at Forestry Commission |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/forestry-commission/about/procurement |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> Carbon sink restoration projects may be part of the nationally determined contributions plans in order to reach the national Paris agreement goals.
Government procurement audit software can also be used.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Best Government Audit Software – 2023 Reviews & Comparison |url=https://sourceforge.net/software/audit/for-government/ |website=sourceforge.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Audit app: an effective tool for government procurement assurance |url=https://revista.tcu.gov.br/ojs/index.php/RTCU/article/download/1379/1561}}</ref> Audits are performed in some countries after subsidies have been received.
Some government agencies provide track and trace systems for services they offer. An example is track and trace for applications done by citizens (i.e. driving license procurement).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Track your driving licence application |url=https://www.gov.uk/track-your-driving-licence-application |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>
Some government services use issue tracking systems to keep track of ongoing issues.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 18, 2018 |title=Track progress of a reported road fault or issue | nidirect |url=https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/track-progress-reported-road-fault-or-issue |website=www.nidirect.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Senate Tracker Help – The Florida Senate |url=https://flsenate.gov/Tracker/help |access-date=2021-01-17 |website=flsenate.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Legislative Search Results |url=https://www.congress.gov/legislation |access-date=2021-01-17 |website=congress.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=GovTrack.us: Tracking the U.S. Congress |url=https://govtrack.us |access-date=2021-01-17 |website=govtrack.us}}</ref>
===Justice by algorithm=== Judges' decisions in Australia are supported by the "Split Up" software in cases of determining the percentage of a split after a divorce.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stranieri |first1=Andrew |title=Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Information and knowledge management – CIKM '95 |last2=Zeleznikow |first2=John |date=2 December 1995 |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |isbn=0897918126 |pages=333–339 |chapter=Levels of reasoning as the basis for a formalisation of argumentation |doi=10.1145/221270.221608 |access-date=5 February 2022 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/221270.221608 |s2cid=12179742}}</ref> COMPAS software is used in the US to assess the risk of recidivism in courts.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sam Corbett-Davies |author2=Emma Pierson |author3=Avi Feller |author4=Sharad Goel |date=October 17, 2016 |title=A computer program used for bail and sentencing decisions was labeled biased against blacks. It's actually not that clear. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/10/17/can-an-algorithm-be-racist-our-analysis-is-more-cautious-than-propublicas/ |access-date=January 1, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=Aaron M. Bornstein |date=December 21, 2017 |title=Are Algorithms Building the New Infrastructure of Racism? |url=http://nautil.us/issue/55/trust/are-algorithms-building-the-new-infrastructure-of-racism |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103011728/http://nautil.us/issue/55/trust/are-algorithms-building-the-new-infrastructure-of-racism |archive-date=January 3, 2018 |access-date=January 2, 2018 |magazine=Nautilus |issue=55}}</ref> According to the statement of Beijing Internet Court, China is the first country to create an internet court or cyber court.<ref name="internetcourt">{{cite web |title=Beijing Internet Court launches online litigation service center |url=https://english.bjinternetcourt.gov.cn/2019-07/01/c_190.htm |access-date=13 April 2020 |website=english.bjinternetcourt.gov.cn}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=16 August 2019 |title=China Now Has AI-Powered Judges |url=https://radiichina.com/china-now-has-ai-powered-robot-judges/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614083802/https://radiichina.com/china-now-has-ai-powered-robot-judges/ |archive-date=14 June 2020 |access-date=13 April 2020 |work=RADII {{!}} Culture, Innovation, and Life in today's China}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Fish |first1=Tom |date=6 December 2019 |title=AI shock: China unveils 'cyber court' complete with AI judges and verdicts via chat app |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1214019/ai-china-cyber-court-artificial-intelligence-judges-verdicts-chat-app |access-date=13 April 2020 |work=Express.co.uk}}</ref> The Chinese AI judge is a virtual recreation of an actual female judge. She "will help the court's judges complete repetitive basic work, including litigation reception, thus enabling professional practitioners to focus better on their trial work".<ref name=internetcourt/> Also, Estonia plans to employ artificial intelligence to decide small-claim cases of less than €7,000.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Can AI Be a Fair Judge in Court? Estonia Thinks So |url=https://www.wired.com/story/can-ai-be-fair-judge-court-estonia-thinks-so/ |access-date=13 April 2020 |magazine=Wired}}</ref>
Lawbots can perform tasks that are typically done by paralegals or young associates at law firms. One such technology used by US law firms to assist in legal research is from ROSS Intelligence,<ref>{{cite web |title=ROSS Intelligence Lands Another Law Firm Client |url=https://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202769384977/ROSS-Intelligence-Lands-Another-Law-Firm-Client |accessdate=16 June 2017 |website=The American Lawyer}}</ref> and others vary in sophistication and dependence on scripted algorithms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CodeX Techindex |url=https://techindex.law.stanford.edu/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331081439/https://techindex.law.stanford.edu/ |archive-date=2022-03-31 |access-date=16 June 2017 |website=techindex.law.stanford.edu}}</ref> Another legal technology chatbot application is DoNotPay.
===Algorithms in education=== {{further|Ofqual exam results algorithm}}
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, in-person final exams were impossible for thousands of students.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Broussard |first1=Meredith |author-link=Meredith Broussard |date=8 September 2020 |title=Opinion {{!}} When Algorithms Give Real Students Imaginary Grades |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/opinion/international-baccalaureate-algorithm-grades.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The public high school Westminster High employed algorithms to assign grades. UK's Department for Education also employed a statistical calculus to assign final grades in A-levels, due to the pandemic.<ref name="fuckthealgorithm">{{cite magazine |title=Skewed Grading Algorithms Fuel Backlash Beyond the Classroom |url=https://www.wired.com/story/skewed-grading-algorithms-fuel-backlash-beyond-classroom/ |access-date=26 September 2020 |magazine=Wired}}</ref>
Besides use in grading, software systems like AI were used in preparation for college entrance exams.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Craig S. |date=December 18, 2019 |title=The Machines Are Learning, and So Are the Students |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/education/artificial-intelligence-tutors-teachers.html |work=The New York Times |via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
AI teaching assistants are being developed and used for education (e.g. Georgia Tech's Jill Watson)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Could Artificial Intelligence Replace Our Teachers? | Education World |url=https://www.educationworld.com/could-artificial-intelligence-replace-our-teachers |website=www.educationworld.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Leopold |first=Todd |title=A professor built an AI teaching assistant for his courses — and it could shape the future of education |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/a-professor-built-an-ai-teaching-assistant-for-his-courses-and-it-could-shape-the-future-of-education-2017-3 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> and there is also an ongoing debate on the possibility of teachers being entirely replaced by AI systems (e.g. in homeschooling).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robot |first=Roybi |date=September 23, 2018 |title=The Future of Homeschooling: How Robots are Changing In-Home Education |url=https://medium.com/roybi-robot/the-future-of-homeschooling-how-robots-are-changing-in-home-education-473ede32e228}}</ref>
===AI politicians=== {{See also|Chatbot#Politics|Virtual Politician}}
In 2018, an activist named Michihito Matsuda ran for mayor in the Tama city area of Tokyo as a human proxy for an artificial intelligence program.<ref>{{cite web |last=Matsuda |first=Michihito |date=14 July 2018 |title=Politics 2028: Why Artificial Intelligence Will Replace Politicians |url=https://www.slideshare.net/MichihitoMatsuda/politics-2028-why-artificial-intelligence-will-replace-politicians-by-michihito-matsuda |access-date=22 September 2019 |website=SlideShare}}</ref> While election posters and campaign material used the term ''robot'', and displayed stock images of a feminine android, the "AI mayor" was in fact a machine learning algorithm trained using Tama city datasets.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnston |first1=Lachlan |date=12 April 2018 |title=There's an AI Running for the Mayoral Role of Tama City, Tokyo |url=https://www.otaquest.com/tama-city-ai-mayor/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205220420/https://www.otaquest.com/tama-city-ai-mayor/ |archive-date=5 December 2021 |access-date=22 September 2019 |website=OTAQUEST}}</ref> The project was backed by high-profile executives Tetsuzo Matsumoto of Softbank and Norio Murakami of Google.<ref>{{cite web |title=AI党 | 多摩市議会議員選挙2019 |url=https://www.ai-mayor.com/ |website=AI党 | 多摩市議会議員選挙2019}}</ref> Michihito Matsuda came third in the election, being defeated by Hiroyuki Abe.<ref>{{cite news |title=Werden Bots die besseren Politiker? |url=https://www.politik-kommunikation.de/ressorts/artikel/werden-bots-die-besseren-politiker-73781989 |access-date=31 October 2020 |work=Politik & Kommunikation |language=de}}</ref> Organisers claimed that the 'AI mayor' was programmed to analyze citizen petitions put forward to the city council in a more 'fair and balanced' way than human politicians.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Leary |first1=Abigail |last2=Verdon |first2=Anna |date=April 17, 2018 |title=Robot to run for mayor in Japan promising 'fairness and balance' for all |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/robot-run-mayor-japan-world-12377782 |website=mirror}}</ref>
In 2018, Cesar Hidalgo presented the idea of augumented democracy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perez |first1=Oren |date=31 January 2020 |title=Collaborative е-Rulemaking, Democratic Bots, and the Future of Digital Democracy |journal=Digital Government: Research and Practice |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1145/3352463 |issn=2691-199X |s2cid=211519367 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In an augumented democracy, legislation is done by digital twins of every single person.
In 2019, AI-powered messenger chatbot SAM participated in the discussions on social media connected to an electoral race in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sarmah |first1=Harshajit |date=28 January 2019 |title=World's First AI-powered Virtual Politician SAM Joins The Electoral Race In New Zealand |url=https://analyticsindiamag.com/worlds-first-ai-powered-virtual-politician-sam-joins-the-electoral-race-in-new-zealand/ |access-date=11 April 2020 |work=Analytics India Magazine}}</ref> The creator of SAM, Nick Gerritsen, believed SAM would be advanced enough to run as a candidate by late 2020, when New Zealand had its next general election.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 November 2017 |title=Meet SAM, world's first AI politician that hopes to run for New Zealand election in 2020 |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/science/meet-sam-world-s-first-ai-politician-that-hopes-to-run-for-new-zealand-election-in-2020/story-TPnkQNM4UQae3IgcifZq4K.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171126111001/http://www.hindustantimes.com/science/meet-sam-world-s-first-ai-politician-that-hopes-to-run-for-new-zealand-election-in-2020/story-TPnkQNM4UQae3IgcifZq4K.html |archive-date=November 26, 2017 |access-date=11 April 2020 |work=Hindustan Times}}</ref>
In 2022, the chatbot "Leader Lars" or "Leder Lars" was nominated for The Synthetic Party to run in the 2022 Danish parliamentary election,<ref>{{cite news |last=Sternberg |first=Sarah |date=20 June 2022 |title=Danskere vil ind på den politiske scene med kunstig intelligens |trans-title=Danes want to enter the political scene with artificial intelligence |url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/kultur/ECE14145385/danskere-vil-ind-paa-den-politiske-scene-med-kunstig-intelligens/ |access-date=2022-06-20 |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten}}</ref> and was built by the artist collective [https://computerlars.com Computer Lars].<ref>{{cite news |last=Diwakar |first=Amar |date=2022-08-22 |title=Can an AI-led Danish party usher in an age of algorithmic politics? |url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/can-an-ai-led-danish-party-usher-in-an-age-of-algorithmic-politics-60008 |access-date=2022-08-22 |newspaper=TRT World}}</ref> Leader Lars differed from earlier virtual politicians by leading a political party and by not pretending to be an objective candidate.<ref>{{cite news |last=Xiang |first=Chloe |date=13 October 2022 |title=This Danish Political Party Is Led by an AI |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-danish-political-party-is-led-by-an-ai/ |access-date=2022-10-13 |newspaper=Vice: Motherboard}}</ref> This chatbot engaged in critical discussions on politics with users from around the world.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hearing |first=Alice |date=14 October 2022 |title=A.I. chatbot is leading a Danish political party and setting its policies. Now users are grilling it for its stance on political landmines |url=https://fortune.com/2022/10/14/ai-chatbot-leader-lars-the-synthetic-party-discord-russia-ukraine-crimea-policy/ |work=Fortune}}</ref>
In November 2023, in the Japanese town of Manazuru, a mayoral candidate called "AI Mayer" hoped to be the first AI-powered officeholder in Japan. This candidacy was said to be supported by a group led by Michihito Matsuda.<ref>{{cite news |date=2023-11-07 |title=Danskere vil ind den politiske scene med kunstig intelligens |trans-title=AI Mayer run to the election in Manazuru Town |url=https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/282034 |access-date=2023-11-25 |newspaper=Tokyo Sports}}</ref>
In the 2024 United Kingdom general election, a businessman named Steve Endacott ran for the constituency of Brighton Pavilion as an AI avatar named "AI Steve",<ref>{{Cite news |last=Grierson |first=Jamie |date=2024-06-10 |title=Brighton general election candidate aims to be UK's first 'AI MP' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/10/brighton-general-election-candidate-uk-first-ai-mp-artificial-intelligence |access-date=2024-06-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> saying that constituents could interact with AI Steve to shape policy. Endacott stated that he would only attend Parliament to vote based on policies which had garnered at least 50% support.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-13 |title=Meet AI Steve, the avatar standing as a candidate in the UK election |url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/06/13/meet-ai-steve-the-uks-avatar-election-candidate |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref> AI Steve placed last with 179 votes.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 July 2024 |title=Results – General Election 4 July 2024 |url=https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2024/results-general-election-4-july-2024 |access-date=8 July 2024 |publisher=Brighton & Hove City Council |language=en-gb}}</ref>
On September 11, 2025, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama appointed AI chatbot Diella to the seat of Minister for Public Procurements.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-09-11 |title=Albania appoints world's first AI-made minister |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/albania-apppoints-worlds-first-virtual-minister-edi-rama-diella/ |access-date=2025-09-16 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}</ref> The move, he claimed, would make Albania "a country where 100% of public tenders are free of corruption".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Albania appoints AI bot 'minister' to fight corruption in world first |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/12/albania-appoints-ai-bot-minister-to-fight-corruption-in-world-first |access-date=2025-09-16 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> He stated that the process would be "step-by-step", and that "Albania's public tenders will be "100 percent incorruptible and where every public fund that goes through the tender procedure is 100 percent legible."<ref name=":0" /> Leaving it up to interpretation whether he was talking about her appointment, or the process of automating public procurements using Diella. Public opinion is torn on the topic of whether Albania should use Diella for this purpose. Many Eastern-Europeans are claiming the move is a step in the right direction, and that Albania is advancing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tchuiev |first=Vladimir |date=September 11, 2025 |title=It's about time someone attempts this. Let's see how this experiment goes, hopefully they find out that AI politicians are indeed better than human ones |url=https://x.com/VTchuiev/status/1966235904554774590 |access-date=September 16, 2025}}</ref> Many Westerners, however, have approached the move with a more critical lens, saying it is a dangerous and reckless move to place billions in public funding in the hands of an AI.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rodrigues |first=Antonio |date=September 14, 2025 |title=Billions in decisions now lie with an entity without consciousness |url=https://x.com/antonior1888/status/1967099654409159151 |access-date=September 16, 2025}}</ref>
===Management of infection=== {{See also|Digital contact tracing|Disease surveillance|COVID-19 apps}} thumb|A schematic of app-based COVID-19 contact tracing<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ferretti |first1=Luca |last2=Wymant |first2=Chris |last3=Kendall |first3=Michelle |last4=Zhao |first4=Lele |last5=Nurtay |first5=Anel |last6=Abeler-Dörner |first6=Lucie |last7=Parker |first7=Michael |last8=Bonsall |first8=David |last9=Fraser |first9=Christophe |date=8 May 2020 |title=Quantifying SARS-CoV-2 transmission suggests epidemic control with digital contact tracing |journal=Science |language=en |volume=368 |issue=6491 |doi=10.1126/science.abb6936 |issn=0036-8075 |pmc=7164555 |pmid=32234805 |article-number=eabb6936}}</ref>
In February 2020, China launched a mobile app to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak<ref>{{cite news |date=11 February 2020 |title=China launches coronavirus 'close contact' app |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51439401 |access-date=7 March 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> called "close-contact-detector".<ref name="auto">{{cite web |date=February 12, 2020 |title=China launches coronavirus 'close contact detector' platform |url=https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3050054/china-launches-coronavirus-close-contact-detector-effort-reassure |website=South China Morning Post}}</ref> Users are asked to enter their name and ID number. The app is able to detect "close contact" using surveillance data (i.e. using public transport records, including trains and flights)<ref name="auto"/> and therefore a potential risk of infection. Every user can also check the status of three other users. To make this inquiry users scan a Quick Response (QR) code on their smartphones using apps like Alipay or WeChat.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 11, 2020 |title=China launches coronavirus 'close contact detector' app |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51439401 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The close contact detector can be accessed via popular mobile apps including Alipay. If a potential risk is detected, the app not only recommends self-quarantine, it also alerts local health officials.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chen |first1=Angela |title=China's coronavirus app could have unintended consequences |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615199/coronavirus-china-app-close-contact-surveillance-covid-19-technology/ |access-date=7 March 2020 |website=MIT Technology Review}}</ref>
Alipay also has the Alipay Health Code which is used to keep citizens safe. This system generates a QR code in one of three colors (green, yellow, or red) after users fill in a form on Alipay with personal details. A green code enables the holder to move around unrestricted. A yellow code requires the user to stay at home for seven days and red means a two-week quarantine. In some cities such as Hangzhou, it has become nearly impossible to get around without showing one's Alipay code.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mozur |first1=Paul |last2=Zhong |first2=Raymond |last3=Krolik |first3=Aaron |date=March 2, 2020 |title=In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens a Color Code, With Red Flags |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/china-coronavirus-surveillance.html |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
In Cannes, France, monitoring software has been used on footage shot by CCTV cameras, allowing to monitor their compliance to local social distancing and mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The system does not store identifying data, but rather allows to alert city authorities and police where breaches of the mask and mask wearing rules are spotted (allowing fining to be carried out where needed). The algorithms used by the monitoring software can be incorporated into existing surveillance systems in public spaces (hospitals, stations, airports, shopping centres, ...) <ref>{{cite news |date=May 4, 2020 |title=Coronavirus France: Cameras to monitor masks and social distancing |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52529981 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
Cellphone data is used to locate infected patients in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and other countries.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Manancourt |first1=Vincent |date=10 March 2020 |title=Coronavirus tests Europe's resolve on privacy |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-tests-europe-resolve-on-privacy-tracking-apps-germany-italy/ |access-date=20 March 2020 |work=Politico}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Ivan Watson |author2=Sophie Jeong |date=28 February 2020 |title=Coronavirus mobile apps are surging in popularity in South Korea |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/tech/korea-coronavirus-tracking-apps/index.html |website=CNN}}</ref> In March 2020, the Israeli government enabled security agencies to track mobile phone data of people supposed to have coronavirus. The measure was taken to enforce quarantine and protect those who may come into contact with infected citizens.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tidy |first=Joe |date=17 March 2020 |title=Coronavirus: Israel enables emergency spy powers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51930681 |access-date=18 March 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Also in March 2020, Deutsche Telekom shared private cellphone data with the federal government agency, Robert Koch Institute, in order to research and prevent the spread of the virus.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Paksoy |first1=Yunus |title=German telecom giant shares private data with government amid privacy fears |url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/german-telecom-giant-shares-private-data-with-government-amid-privacy-fears-34665 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320100247/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/german-telecom-giant-shares-private-data-with-government-amid-privacy-fears-34665 |archive-date=20 March 2020 |access-date=20 March 2020 |agency=trtworld}}</ref> Russia deployed facial recognition technology to detect quarantine breakers.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 February 2020 |title=Moscow deploys facial recognition technology for coronavirus quarantine |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-moscow-technology-idUSKBN20F1RZ |access-date=20 March 2020 |work=Reuters}}</ref> Italian regional health commissioner Giulio Gallera said that "40% of people are continuing to move around anyway", as he has been informed by mobile phone operators.<ref>{{cite news |title=Italians scolded for flouting lockdown as death toll nears 3,000 |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2020/03/18/Italy-coronavirus-475-deaths-one-day-death-toll-2978-COVID-19-doctors/stories/202003180182 |access-date=20 March 2020 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref> In USA, Europe and UK, Palantir Technologies is taken in charge to provide COVID-19 tracking services.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palantir provides COVID-19 tracking software to CDC and NHS, pitches European health agencies |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/01/palantir-coronavirus-cdc-nhs-gotham-foundry/ |access-date=22 April 2020 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>
===Prevention and management of environmental disasters=== {{See also|Early warning system}}
Tsunamis can be detected by tsunami warning systems. They can make use of AI.<ref>{{cite web |last=Osumi |first=Magdalena |date=August 16, 2019 |title=How AI will help us better understand tsunami risks |url=https://www.preventionweb.net/news/how-ai-will-help-us-better-understand-tsunami-risks |website=www.preventionweb.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Artificially Intelligent Tsunami Early Warning System | Request PDF |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221057355}}</ref> Floodings can also be detected using AI systems.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Artificial Intelligence Could Help Fight Climate Change-Driven Wildfires and Save Lives |url=https://fortune.com/2019/08/10/artificial-intelligence-wildfires-flooding-rescue/ |website=Fortune}}</ref> Wildfires can be predicted using AI systems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sayad |first1=Younes Oulad |last2=Mousannif |first2=Hajar |last3=Al Moatassime |first3=Hassan |date=March 1, 2019 |title=Predictive modeling of wildfires: A new dataset and machine learning approach |journal=Fire Safety Journal |volume=104 |pages=130–146 |bibcode=2019FirSJ.104..130S |doi=10.1016/j.firesaf.2019.01.006 |s2cid=116032143 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Artificial intelligence for forest fire prediction |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261272818}}</ref> Wildfire detection is possible by AI systems (i.e. through satellite data, aerial imagery, and GPS phone personnel position) and can help in the evacuation of people during wildfires,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Xilei |last2=Lovreglio |first2=Ruggiero |last3=Kuligowski |first3=Erica |last4=Nilsson |first4=Daniel |date=April 15, 2020 |title=Using Artificial Intelligence for Safe and Effective Wildfire Evacuations |journal=Fire Technology |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=483–485 |doi=10.1007/s10694-020-00979-x |s2cid=218801709 |doi-access=free}}</ref> to investigate how householders responded in wildfires<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Xilei |last2=Xu |first2=Yiming |last3=Lovreglio |first3=Ruggiero |last4=Kuligowski |first4=Erica |last5=Nilsson |first5=Daniel |last6=Cova |first6=Thomas J. |last7=Wu |first7=Alex |last8=Yan |first8=Xiang |date=2022-06-01 |title=Estimating wildfire evacuation decision and departure timing using large-scale GPS data |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192092200102X |journal=Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment |volume=107 |arxiv=2109.07745 |bibcode=2022TRPD..10703277Z |doi=10.1016/j.trd.2022.103277 |issn=1361-9209 |article-number=103277}}</ref> and spotting wildfire in real time using computer vision.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Rachel Metz |date=5 December 2019 |others=Video by John General |title=How AI is helping spot wildfires faster |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/05/tech/ai-wildfires/index.html |website=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Holley |first=Peter |title=California has 33 million acres of forest. This company is training artificial intelligence to scour it all for wildfire. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/11/06/california-has-million-acres-forest-this-company-is-training-artificial-intelligence-scour-it-all-wildfire/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Earthquake detection systems are now improving alongside the development of AI technology through measuring seismic data and implementing complex algorithms to improve detection and prediction rates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mousavi |first1=S. Mostafa |last2=Sheng |first2=Yixiao |last3=Zhu |first3=Weiqiang |last4=Beroza |first4=Gregory C. |date=2019 |title=STanford EArthquake Dataset (STEAD): A Global Data Set of Seismic Signals for AI |journal=IEEE Access |volume=7 |pages=179464–179476 |bibcode=2019IEEEA...7q9464M |doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2947848 |issn=2169-3536 |s2cid=208111095 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Banna |first1=Md. Hasan Al |last2=Taher |first2=Kazi Abu |last3=Kaiser |first3=M. Shamim |last4=Mahmud |first4=Mufti |last5=Rahman |first5=Md. Sazzadur |last6=Hosen |first6=A. S. M. Sanwar |last7=Cho |first7=Gi Hwan |date=2020 |title=Application of Artificial Intelligence in Predicting Earthquakes: State-of-the-Art and Future Challenges |journal=IEEE Access |volume=8 |pages=192880–192923 |bibcode=2020IEEEA...8s2880B |doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3029859 |issn=2169-3536 |s2cid=226292959 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-09 |title=How Location Intelligence Can Help Protect Lives During Disasters |url=https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2022/02/how-location-intelligence-can-help-protect-lives-during-disasters/ |access-date=2024-01-23 |website=EHS Daily Advisor |language=en-US}}</ref> Earthquake monitoring, phase picking, and seismic signal detection have developed through AI algorithms of deep-learning, analysis, and computational models.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mousavi |first1=S. Mostafa |last2=Ellsworth |first2=William L. |last3=Zhu |first3=Weiqiang |last4=Chuang |first4=Lindsay Y. |last5=Beroza |first5=Gregory C. |date=2020-08-07 |title=Earthquake transformer—an attentive deep-learning model for simultaneous earthquake detection and phase picking |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=3952 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.3952M |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-17591-w |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7415159 |pmid=32770023}}</ref> Locust breeding areas can be approximated using machine learning, which could help to stop locust swarms in an early phase.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gómez |first1=Diego |last2=Salvador |first2=Pablo |last3=Sanz |first3=Julia |last4=Casanova |first4=Carlos |last5=Taratiel |first5=Daniel |last6=Casanova |first6=Jose Luis |date=August 15, 2018 |title=Machine learning approach to locate desert locust breeding areas based on ESA CCI soil moisture |journal=Journal of Applied Remote Sensing |volume=12 |issue=3 |at=036011 |bibcode=2018JARS...12c6011G |doi=10.1117/1.JRS.12.036011 |s2cid=52230139 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Reception== ===Benefits=== {{See also|Techno-progressivism}}
Algorithmic regulation is supposed to be a system of governance where more exact data, collected from citizens via their smart devices and computers, is used to more efficiently organize human life as a collective.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCormick |first1=Tim |date=15 February 2014 |title=A brief exchange with Tim O'Reilly about "algorithmic regulation" |url=https://tjm.org/2014/02/15/a-brief-exchange-with-tim-oreilly-about-algorithmic-regulation/ |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 July 2014 |title=Why the internet of things could destroy the welfare state |url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/20/rise-of-data-death-of-politics-evgeny-morozov-algorithmic-regulation |access-date=2 June 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> As Deloitte estimated in 2017, automation of US government work could save 96.7 million federal hours annually, with a potential savings of $3.3 billion; at the high end, this rises to 1.2 billion hours and potential annual savings of $41.1 billion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eggers |first1=illiam D. |last2=Schatsky |first2=David |last3=Viechnick |first3=Peter |title=Demystifying artificial intelligence in government |url=https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/cognitive-technologies/artificial-intelligence-government.html |access-date=4 April 2020 |website=Deloitte Insights}}</ref>
===Criticism=== There are potential risks associated with the use of algorithms in government. Those include: * algorithms becoming susceptible to bias,<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Mehr |first=Hila |date=August 2017 |title=Artificial Intelligence for Citizen Services and Government |url=https://ash.harvard.edu/files/ash/files/artificial_intelligence_for_citizen_services.pdf |access-date=2018-12-31 |website=ash.harvard.edu}}</ref> * a lack of transparency in how an algorithm may make decisions,<ref name=":6">{{cite web |last=Capgemini Consulting |date=2017 |title=Unleashing the potential of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector |url=https://www.capgemini.com/consulting/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2017/10/ai-in-public-sector.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101145156/https://www.capgemini.com/consulting/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2017/10/ai-in-public-sector.pdf |archive-date=2019-01-01 |access-date=2018-12-31 |website=www.capgemini.com}}</ref> * the accountability for any such decisions.<ref name=":6" />
According to a 2016's book ''Weapons of Math Destruction'', algorithms and big data are suspected to increase inequality due to opacity, scale and damage.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Verma |first1=Shikha |date=June 2019 |title=Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy |journal=Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=97–98 |doi=10.1177/0256090919853933 |issn=0256-0909 |s2cid=198779932 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
There is also a serious concern that gaming by the regulated parties might occur, once more transparency is brought into the decision making by algorithmic governance, regulated parties might try to manipulate their outcome in own favor and even use adversarial machine learning.<ref name=sstandford/><ref name=socialmachine/> According to Harari, the conflict between democracy and dictatorship is seen as a conflict of two different data-processing systems—AI and algorithms may swing the advantage toward the latter by processing enormous amounts of information centrally.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harari |first1=Story by Yuval Noah |title=Why Technology Favors Tyranny |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/yuval-noah-harari-technology-tyranny/568330/ |access-date=11 April 2020 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref>
In 2018, the Netherlands employed an algorithmic system SyRI (Systeem Risico Indicatie) to detect citizens perceived as being high risk for committing welfare fraud, which quietly flagged thousands of people to investigators.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Europe Limits Government by Algorithm. The US, Not So Much |url=https://www.wired.com/story/europe-limits-government-algorithm-us-not-much/ |access-date=11 April 2020 |magazine=Wired}}</ref> This caused a public protest. The district court of Hague shut down SyRI referencing Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).<ref>Rechtbank Den Haag 5 February 2020, C-09-550982-HA ZA 18-388 (English), {{ECLI|ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2020:1878}}</ref>
The contributors of the 2019 documentary iHuman expressed apprehension of "infinitely stable dictatorships" created by government AI.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Amber |title='iHuman': IDFA Review |url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/ihuman-idfa-review/5144918.article |access-date=21 April 2020 |website=Screen}}</ref>
Due to public criticism, the Australian government announced the suspension of Robodebt scheme key functions in 2019, and a review of all debts raised using the programme.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rinta-Kahila |first1=Tapani |last2=Someh |first2=Ida |last3=Gillespie |first3=Nicole |last4=Indulska |first4=Marta |last5=Gregor |first5=Shirley |date=4 May 2022 |title=Algorithmic decision-making and system destructiveness: A case of automatic debt recovery |journal=European Journal of Information Systems |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=313–338 |doi=10.1080/0960085X.2021.1960905 |hdl=1885/294609 |s2cid=239735326 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
In 2020, algorithms assigning exam grades to students in the UK sparked open protest under the banner "Fuck the algorithm."<ref name="fuckthealgorithm" /> This protest was successful and the grades were taken back.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Reuter |first1=Markus |date=17 August 2020 |title=Fuck the Algorithm – Jugendproteste in Großbritannien gegen maschinelle Notenvergabe erfolgreich |url=https://netzpolitik.org/2020/fuck-the-algorithm-jugendproteste-in-grossbritannien-gegen-maschinelle-notenvergabe-erfolgreich/ |access-date=3 October 2020 |work=netzpolitik.org |language=de-DE}}</ref>
In 2020, the US government software ATLAS, which run on Amazon Cloud, sparked uproar from activists and Amazon's own employees.<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Government Is Using an Algorithm to Flag American Citizens for Denaturalization: Report |url=https://gizmodo.com/u-s-government-is-using-an-algorithm-to-flag-american-1847565703 |access-date=21 September 2021 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref>
In 2021, Eticas Foundation launched a database of governmental algorithms called ''Observatory of Algorithms with Social Impact'' (OASI).<ref>{{cite press release |title=OASI, the first search engine to find the algorithms that governments and companies use on citizens |url=https://www.eureporter.co/lifestyle/computer-technology/2021/10/11/oasi-the-first-search-engine-to-find-the-algorithms-that-governments-and-companies-use-on-citizens/ |access-date=16 October 2021}}</ref>
A 2023 Annual Review synthesis highlights that regulating government use of AI requires sociotechnical design that addresses accountability, transparency, and bias.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Engstrom |first=David Freeman |last2=Haim |first2=Amit |date=May 30, 2023 |title=Regulating Government AI and the Challenge of Sociotechnical Design |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-120522-091626 |journal=Annual Review Law and Social Science |volume=19 |pages=277-298 |via=Annual Reviews (publisher)}}</ref>
====Algorithmic bias and transparency==== {{Main|Algorithmic bias}}
An initial approach towards transparency included the open-sourcing of algorithms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heald |first=David |title=Transparency: The Key to Better Governance? |publisher=British Academy |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-726383-9 |doi=10.5871/bacad/9780197263839.003.0002}}</ref> Software code can be looked into and improvements can be proposed through source-code-hosting facilities.
===Public acceptance=== A 2019 poll conducted by IE University's Center for the Governance of Change in Spain found that 25% of citizens from selected European countries were somewhat or totally in favor of letting an artificial intelligence make important decisions about how their country is run.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Tech Insights (2019) {{!}} IE CGC |url=https://docs.ie.edu/cgc/European-Tech-Insights-2019.pdf |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=Center for the Governance of Change}}</ref> The following table lists the results by country:
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Country !! Percentage |- | France || 25% |- | Germany || 31% |- | Ireland || 29% |- | Italy || 28% |- | Netherlands || 43% |- | Portugal || 19% |- | Spain || 26% |- | UK || 31% |}
Researchers found some evidence that when citizens perceive their political leaders or security providers to be untrustworthy, disappointing, or immoral, they prefer to replace them by artificial agents, whom they consider to be more reliable.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Spatola |first1=Nicolas |last2=Macdorman |first2=Karl F. |date=11 July 2021 |title=Why Real Citizens Would Turn to Artificial Leaders |journal=Digital Government: Research and Practice |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=26:1–26:24 |doi=10.1145/3447954 |hdl=1805/30988 |issn=2691-199X |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free}}</ref> The evidence is established by survey experiments on university students of all genders.
A 2021 poll by IE University indicates that 51% of Europeans are in favor of reducing the number of national parliamentarians and reallocating these seats to an algorithm. This proposal has garnered substantial support in Spain (66%), Italy (59%), and Estonia (56%). Conversely, the citizens of Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden largely oppose the idea.<ref name="ie2021">{{cite web |date=2021 |title=European Tech Insights 2021 |url=https://docs.ie.edu/cgc/IE-CGC-European-Tech-Insights-2021-%28Part-II%29.pdf |access-date=29 June 2024 |website=IE University}}</ref> The survey results exhibit significant generational differences. Over 60% of Europeans aged 25–34 and 56% of those aged 34–44 support the measure, while a majority of respondents over the age of 55 are against it. International perspectives also vary: 75% of Chinese respondents support the proposal, whereas 60% of Americans are opposed.<ref name=ie2021/>
==In popular culture== The 1970 David Bowie song "Saviour Machine" depicts an algocratic society run by the titular mechanism, which ended famine and war through "logic" but now threatens to cause an apocalypse due to its fear that its subjects have become excessively complacent.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |title="Saviour Machine" – David Bowie |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/saviour-machine-mt0052219333 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704103805/https://www.allmusic.com/song/saviour-machine-mt0052219333 |archive-date=4 July 2019 |access-date=9 August 2020 |publisher=AllMusic}}</ref>
The novels ''Daemon'' (2006) and ''Freedom™'' (2010) by Daniel Suarez describe a fictional scenario of global algorithmic regulation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rieger |first1=Frank |title=Understanding the Daemon |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/medien/english-version-understanding-the-daemon-1621404.html |access-date=5 April 2020 |work=FAZ.NET |language=de}}</ref> Matthew De Abaitua's ''If Then'' imagines an algorithm supposedly based on "fairness" recreating a premodern rural economy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stainforth |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Walton |first2=Jo Lindsay |date=2019 |title=Computing Utopia: The Horizons of Computational Economies in History and Science Fiction |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/799925 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |language=en |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=471–489 |doi=10.1353/sfs.2019.0084 |issn=2327-6207|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Law}} {{div col|colwidth=20em}} * Anti-corruption * Civic technology * Code for America * Cyberocracy * Cyberpunk * Cybersyn * Digital divide * Digital Nations * Distributed ledger technology law * Dutch childcare benefits scandal * ERulemaking * Lawbot * Legal informatics * Management cybernetics * Multivac * Post-scarcity * Predictive analytics * Sharing economy * Smart contract {{div col end}}
== Citations == {{Reflist}}
== General and cited references == * {{Cite book |last=Lessig |first=Lawrence |url=https://lessig.org/product/codev2 |title=Code: Version 2.0 |publisher=Basic Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-465-03914-2 |location=New York |oclc=133467669}} Wikipedia article: ''Code: Version 2.0''. * {{Cite journal |last=Oliva |first=Jennifer |date=2020-01-08 |title=Prescription-Drug Policing: The Right To Health Information Privacy Pre- and Post-Carpenter |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol69/iss4/1 |journal=Duke Law Journal |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=775–853 |issn=0012-7086}} * {{Cite magazine |last=Szalavitz |first=Maia |date=October 2021 |title=The Pain Algorithm |url=https://www.wired.com/story/opioid-drug-addiction-algorithm-chronic-pain |magazine=WIRED |pages=36–47 |issn=1059-1028}} * {{Cite book |last1=Yeung |first1=Karen |title=Algorithmic Regulation |last2=Lodge |first2=Martin |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |isbn=9780198838494}}
== External links == {{Wiktionary|algocracy}} * [https://dataforpolicy.org/data-for-policy-2017/ Government by Algorithm?] by Data for Policy 2017 Conference * [https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ACUS-AI-Report.pdf Government by Algorithm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815021400/https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ACUS-AI-Report.pdf |date=2022-08-15 }} by Stanford University * [https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2019/624262/EPRS_STU(2019)624262_EN.pdf A governance framework for algorithmic accountability and transparency] by European Parliament * [https://academic.oup.com/comjnl/article/62/3/448/5070384 Algorithmic Government] by Zeynep Engin and Philip Treleaven, University College London * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsz6Zw1BkTg Algorithmic Government] by Prof. Philip C. Treleaven of University College London * [https://ash.harvard.edu/files/ash/files/artificial_intelligence_for_citizen_services.pdf Artificial Intelligence for Citizen Services and Government] by Hila Mehr of Harvard University * [https://eticasfoundation.org/oasi/register/ The OASI Register] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241106054417/https://eticasfoundation.org/oasi/register/ |date=2024-11-06 }}, algorithms with social impact * [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11279794/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1 ''iHuman''] (Documentary, 2019) by Tonje Hessen Schei * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210628064819/https://motivatingspeech.com/how-blockchain-can-transform-india-jaspreet-bindra/ How Blockchain can transform India: Jaspreet Bindra]}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr2ga3BBMTc Can An AI Design Our Tax Policy?] * [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540962.2020.1821514/ New development: Blockchain—a revolutionary tool for the public sector], An introduction on the Blockchain's usage in the public sector by Vasileios Yfantis * [https://www.ted.com/talks/cesar_hidalgo_a_bold_idea_to_replace_politicians A bold idea to replace politicians] by César Hidalgo
Category:Government by algorithm Category:Social networks Category:Sociology of technology Category:Sustainability Category:Transhumanism