About this episode

Daron Acemoglu discusses the crisis of liberal democracy and the impact of artificial intelligence on society.

BBC Newsnight presenter Paddy O’Connell speaks to Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu about why he thinks liberal democracy is in crisis, and how artificial intelligence could make it worse. Daron argues that liberal democracy worked because people were given a say in how they were governed and then benefited from their country’s economy as it prospered. But western governments have made major decisions on issues like immigration without first building public agreement, something which was once important. In an interview with BBC Newsnight, he says that together, these changes have left many working people feeling that politicians no longer listen to them and have helped to fuel a rise in populism. Now Daron warns that the way artificial intelligence is developed and used, so far without consensus, could make it worse, by widening inequality and putting people out of work. “AI is going to transform every aspect of our lives, and we're not being asked. We have no say in how AI is going to shape our society. I mean people in the UK, people in the US. Even worse for 6 billion people who are outside of the US, UK, China. Their lives are going to be completely reshaped by AI…

People in this episode

Host: Paddy O’Connell

Guest: Daron Acemoglu

Topics covered

• liberal democracy
• artificial intelligence
• populism
• economy
• public agreement

Keywords

• liberal democracy
• artificial intelligence
• populism
• inequality
• economy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Newsnight, BBC World Service

Places: UK, US, China

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