With their experiment, the researchers at the University of Wuppertal are tapping into new knowledge. To date, there is hardly any data available on the specific use of AI in citizens' councils, which indicates that its use has so far been rare or not recorded. This has been shown by the preliminary investigations in the "AI and citizens' councils" project, or KIB for short. However, in order to utilise AI profitably as a player in the process, it is important to know more about it: "Thinking beyond our experiment, AI can open up space for participation for many people at the same time. If larger and more diverse population groups can be reached, for example through directly available translation options or knowledge transfer for different levels of education, we assume that this will also serve to open up and structure debates that are relevant to society in the future," explains political scientist and project manager Prof Dr Detlef Sack.

Another point that underlines how important it is to explore the possibilities of AI in citizens' councils: "There is currently a strong focus on the economy and defence, which is also having an impact on the financial budgets of municipalities and federal states. There are signs that there is not as much money left for participatory democracy formats such as citizens' councils, i.e. for participation in political decision-making processes," says Detlef Sack. In conversations with those who organise citizens' assemblies, one can hear the hope and belief that AI could help to reduce the costs of a citizens' assembly so that they can continue to take place in the future, reports Emilia Blank, research assistant in the project.

A closer look: How the AI and Citizens' Councils project works

What will urban transport look like in the future? How should care be organised? How can the local marketplace be redesigned? These and many other topics can be discussed in a citizens' council. The resulting recommendations for action are presented to the relevant parliament or local council for discussion.

To ensure that the participants in a citizens' council, who are drawn at random from the population, can also engage in informed discussions in large groups and small groups, they listen to presentations by experts on the respective topic and can ask questions. This is precisely where the "AI and citizens' councils" research project comes in. "We are currently developing an AI expert system in the form of a chatbot that could support the communication of information and the dialogue between participants on the topic," explains democracy researcher Detlef Sack.

'An existing challenge in citizens' assemblies is that not everyone dares to ask questions in front of an audience. However, answering their questions is important if they are to understand the topic being discussed. The way in which the experts present their knowledge can also have an impact on the participants' understanding and attitude towards the topic," explains Emilia Blank, who is doing her doctorate at the Institute for Democracy and Participation Research headed by Prof Sack. The chatbot is intended to be a solution to both challenges: it enables participants to ask questions without inhibitions and provides answers in simple language.

Cross-faculty cooperation

In developing the tool, the political scientists at the university are cooperating with the AI experts at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Machine Learning and Data Analytics (IZMD). While the former know the requirements, the latter know how to implement them technically. Detlef Sack: "The tool needs to know the basic facts about a topic. When it comes to questions of mobility in a city, it needs to know how much traffic there is in that city, how much of it is delivery traffic or private transport, et cetera." It also needs to be familiar with the different perspectives on a topic that are presented to the participants in the citizens' council.

Andreas Burgdorf and Miguel Gomes from IZMD ensure that the document database in the background can be filled with all this necessary knowledge and programme the chatbot based on a large language model that uses the data to formulate comprehensible and factually correct answers. "This means that we set up a topic-specific document database for each citizens' council that will work with the expert system in the future and operate it securely on the university's servers," says the computer scientist Burgdorf, giving an insight into the procedure.

Practical test imminent

Starting in autumn, the researchers want to find out how the chatbot is received and whether it adds value to the citizens' council. They will be accompanying a citizens' councils in each of two NRW cities - one on the topic of participation formats in the city and one on the topic of energy cooperatives. "The citizens' councils will run as usual. The expert tool does not replace anyone, but is used as an additional aid," reports Emilia Blank.

An experiment with an open outcome. "Our primary aim is to identify the productive potential of artificial intelligence for democracy. Of course, we may also find out that the use of this tool is of little use or not worth the effort involved in preparing it for every citizens' council," emphasises Detlef Sack.

All of this is to be clarified by observing and questioning the participants. "This also includes questions about how tech-savvy the participants are and whether their attitude towards AI influences its use in the citizens' council," reports Blank.

It is important that the charm of citizens' assemblies remains: "Citizens' councils have the power to make more than two out of one and one. This means that group knowledge is created and applied through the exchange between participants. Knowledge about a topic grows. So we take a close look at how the use of the tool affects the interactivity of the group," says Sack.