Adriano Mannino is a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley (Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public), a Visiting Fellow at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg (Centre for Philosophy and AI Research) and LMU Munich (Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy), and a Senior Advisor for Power for Democracies, a nonprofit evaluator supporting civil society actors worldwide. Adriano has a background in philosophy, law, entrepreneurship, and politics. He holds a B.A. from the University of Bern and a Ph.D. from LMU Munich. His research interests are in normative ethics, decision theory, and political theory, with a current focus on the ethics and democratic governance of AI, neuro-, and biotechnologies.
Project: Protecting Democracy in the Digital Age: Mapping the Landscape of Threats and Response Strategies.
Summary: Democratic backsliding has been documented in many states around the world. Some of the authoritarian threats to liberal democracy are mediated by digital technologies and amplified by the rapid advances in AI. We aim to make a contribution to the containment of these threats. Accordingly, our guiding questions are as follows: (1) What are the most serious threats liberal democracies are facing in connection with the development and deployment of AI technologies? And (2), what are the most effective short- and long-term strategies that activists, policy-makers, and philanthropists can pursue to counter the respective threats? To address these questions, we draw on analyses of AI development and deployment, qualitative and quantitative research in political science, political sociology, and political economy, practical knowledge from civil society organizations, and normative moral and political theory. Ultimately, we aim to produce strategic and tactical recommendations that practitioners may use in deciding how to best allocate their limited resources. The project is funded by Power for Democracies, a nonprofit evaluator for civil society initiatives supporting liberal democracies around the world.