AI and the Future of Digital Public Squares
This work addresses the challenge of improving online public discourse for society, but it is incremental as it builds on existing ideas without introducing new methods or data.
The paper explores how large language models (LLMs) can reshape digital public squares by enabling decentralized, participatory online spaces for deliberative dialogues at scale, while also highlighting risks of exacerbating societal divisions. It proposes four applications—collective dialogue systems, bridging systems, community moderation, and proof-of-humanity systems—based on input from over 70 experts, and outlines a research agenda to strengthen these spaces and mitigate AI misuse.
Two substantial technological advances have reshaped the public square in recent decades: first with the advent of the internet and second with the recent introduction of large language models (LLMs). LLMs offer opportunities for a paradigm shift towards more decentralized, participatory online spaces that can be used to facilitate deliberative dialogues at scale, but also create risks of exacerbating societal schisms. Here, we explore four applications of LLMs to improve digital public squares: collective dialogue systems, bridging systems, community moderation, and proof-of-humanity systems. Building on the input from over 70 civil society experts and technologists, we argue that LLMs both afford promising opportunities to shift the paradigm for conversations at scale and pose distinct risks for digital public squares. We lay out an agenda for future research and investments in AI that will strengthen digital public squares and safeguard against potential misuses of AI.