Science & Technology

The modern representative democracy was the best form of government that mid-18th-century technology could conceive of. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially. Should we rethink the ways we govern ourselves?

A key constructive-use case for artificial intelligence in democratic processes is to serve as discussion moderator and consensus builder.

A.I. could bolster democracy instead of undermining it - if there were an A.I. system developed by government and available to all citizens, argue Bruce Schneier, Henry Farrell, and Nathan Sanders.

Thanks to large language models, a single scammer can run hundreds or thousands of cons in parallel, night and day, in every language under the sun.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically alter how we gather information, communicate and work. Experts are also raising questions about how it will affect governance and what it will mean for the future of our democracy. Bruce Schneier, a fellow at the Belfer Center, joins PBS' William Brangham to discuss.

What makes the threat of AI-powered lobbyists greater than that of the high-priced lobbying firms on K Street is their potential for acceleration, write Nathan E. Sanders and Bruce Schneier.

Stephen Walt offers some brief foreign-policy advice for the newest members of the U.S. legislature.

Ivan Arreguin-Toft analyzes the West's information technology asymmetry of capability, which has given way to asymmetry of vulnerability. While democracies worldwide remain threatened, they also contain the means to restore themselves.

Ivan Arreguin-Toft argues that non-material considerations like cyber power matter just as much as material ones in debates about U.S. retrenchment from the Middle East.

For now, China's increasing nationalism and assertive government mean that the United States will probably have to spend more time managing its superpower rivalry. But by avoiding ideological demonization, shunning misleading Cold War analogies, and maintaining its alliances, America can rise to the challenge, argues Joseph S. Nye.