The Democratic Digital Commons
From deepfakes and AI therapists to autonomous welfare allocations and surveillance, AI and new digital technologies are taking greater space in our lives - yet citizens are rarely given the tools of decision-making power.
The Democratic Digital Commons brings together citizens, civil society, artists, researchers and practitioners to engage with today’s digital infrastructure and AI governance, to demand and reimagine our digital rights.
What is the Democratic Digital Commons?
The Democratic Digital Commons is a transnational European initiative led by European Alternatives, Arroz Estudios, Make.org, IuRe and TASZ.
Through a series of 10 assemblies - five online and five taking place across different European cities - and artistic research, the project seeks to better understand today's digital infrastructure and governance, while collectively reimagining and advocating for a Democratic Digital Commons.
We recognise that digital space has an extreme lack of democratic practise and designed inaccessibility. The project aims to change this through accessible digital literacy trainings, citizen-centered discussions on AI- with a particular focus on marginalised voices- and by creating a collective space to imagine and showcase visions for an intersectional feminist & democratic AI.
The initiative will culminate in the creation of a Citizens' Charter for Democratic AI, which will be used as an advocacy tool in EU institutions.
What does it mean to join an assembly?
For over a decade, European Alternatives and its allies have been building the vision of a transnational, participatory, and radically democratic Europe ★ one that doesn't only happen in parliaments or behind closed doors, but in public space, community centres, universities, and more.
An assembly brings together ordinary people, ensuring marginalised voices are brought to the centre, and plays with formats of deliberation through arts. An assembly sows democratic seeds wherever it goes ★ it helps you become active, and brings your demands to changemakers.
They are free and open for anyone to join!
How is this AI tool related?
This AI tool is an experimentation in reimagining what a democratic AI could look like. Made in collaboration with Make.org, this is an educative resource to learn what AI is, how it is used in public space & democracy, and to catch up on our citizen assemblies.
European Alternatives
For over a decade, European Alternatives and its allies have been building the vision of a transnational, participatory, and radically democratic Europe ★ one that doesn't only happen in parliaments or behind closed doors, but in public space, community centres, universities, and more.
An assembly brings together ordinary people, ensuring marginalised voices are brought to the centre, and plays with formats of deliberation through arts. An assembly sows democratic seeds wherever it goes ★ it helps you become active, and brings your demands to changemakers.
They are free and open for anyone to join!
Funded by the European Union
