Overview
Switzerland is the country of direct democracy. The average turnout in popular votes, however, is less than 50 %, and a significant number of citizens are unable to provide a content-related justification for their vote choice. While in the case of elections, the widely used voting advice application (VAA) “smartvote” has been available for over 20 years, only limited attempts have been made to provide information to voters in the same or similar way in the case of referendums. This project is addressing this white spot by employing innovative techniques to enable citizens to make informed decisions without needing to study the often complex referendum proposals in full detail. The resulting platform combines (1) pre-existing information about a citizen’s general political attitudes and preferences, (2) newly obtained specific information about the proposal to be voted on, and (3) self-moderated interaction among citizens to reconsider or consolidate their views. To voters, all this is presented in a simple, intuitive, transparent, and low-threshold manner. Avatars and chatbots are used to guide through the platform’s information and deliberation modules, specifically designed for citizens who have previously found it too time-consuming or difficult to form an opinion and participate in referendums. However, the use of explainable AI (XAI) and generative AI (GenAI) in democratic contexts is double-edged: the opportunities offered by technological innovation must meet basic democratic requirements, the generated information must be accurate and unbiased, and the advice given must be accepted and trusted by citizens. In this regard, transparency and traceability are key. Every user must be able to track and understand which information sources are used, how the information is being processed, and how AI contributes to this process. Thus, on the one hand, the project focuses on the research and development of adequate forms of XAI and GenAI, which serve citizens’ informational needs and fulfill high democratic standards. On the other hand, it emphasizes the close integration of technical approaches with social interaction by allowing voters to interact with each other in a digital deliberation module and review the (AI-supported) information they have received. Moreover, to prevent the emergence of opinion bubbles and promote the formation of broad-based opinions, voters are notified in each module about additional information to consider on the platform.
The project's aim is not only to increase participation and informed decision-making but also to examine whether and how suitable AI-supported methods of information gathering and providing voting advice could help to achieve this goal. Moreover, it is designed to be scalable, allowing future applications to also cover local or cantonal referendums.
