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Rewiring Democracy: “Citizen Acceptance and Trust in AI Matters as Much as AI Capabilities”
The core message of this book is succinctly captured in one sentence on page 100: “citizen acceptance and trust in AI matters as much as AI capabilities”. There is a lot more covered in Rewiring Democracy that sits behind this statement—the fact that much of our acceptance of artificial intelligence is unwilling or unwitting, and the universal truth that trust is hard won and easily lost.
There are widely opposing views of AI across the political spectrum, and how it will be applied in Irish society. While some see it as a boost for Ireland’s competitiveness, others have concerns about …
How Artificial Intelligence Is Rewiring Democracy
Excerpt
Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship by Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders (MIT Press, 2025)
Can an artificial intelligence model run for mayor? In 2024, a Cheyenne, Wyoming, mayoral candidate tried to make that case when he pledged that if he were elected, he’d outsource all decisions to an AI. He came in a distant fourth, earning only 3 percent of the vote.
But that (to my mind, rather dystopian) example explored in Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship…
Algorithmic Optimism, Democratic Reality
A review of Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders, Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship (The MIT Press, 2025).
It is telling that when admitted artificial intelligence (AI) optimists write a book about how AI can have a significant positive impact on democracy, they want their readers to know they did not use AI to help them write their book. That is exactly what Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders do in Rewiring Democracy: “While we see many useful applications of AI, we wrote this book ourselves. All the ideas and words are our own or stemming from those we have cited or acknowledged.” It’s a revealing disclaimer. If AI holds as much promise to enhance productivity, creativity, and fairness as the authors insist, why not enlist it in the act of authorship? Implicitly, Schneier and Sanders’s disclaimer suggests that despite AI’s speed and scope, there remains something distinctly human—perhaps even superior—about thought unassisted by AI…
The Best Information Security Books of 2025
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As the year ends, here is my list of the Best Information Security Books of 2025.
Information security book of the year—Rewiring Democracy
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a graphical model that represents the maturity, adoption, and social application of specific technologies. It has five phases: innovation trigger, peak of inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment, and plateau of productivity. It is designed to help organizations assess the potential risks and benefits of new technologies.
When it comes to hype, nothing compares to AI. Yet even with all the hype, there is still immeasurable value. In …
Audio: Rewiring Democracy & Hacking Trust: Bruce Schneier on the AI Offense-Defense Balance
Listen to the Audio on Cloud.WithGoogle.com
Topics covered:
- Do you believe that AI is going to end up being a net improvement for defenders or attackers? Is short term vs long term different?
- We’re excited about the new book you have coming out with your co-author Nathan Sanders, Rewiring Democracy. We want to ask the same question, but for society: do you think AI is going to end up helping the forces of liberal democracy, or the forces of corruption, illiberalism, and authoritarianism?
- If exploitation is always cheaper than patching (and attackers don’t follow as many rules and procedures), do we have a chance here?…
Video: Author of Rewiring Democracy Discusses How AI Combined with Algorithms Might Destabilize Democracy
Bruce Schneier appeared on the podcast Bannon’s War Room to talk about his new book Rewiring Democracy.
AI Is a Power Amplifier. The Future Depends on Who Turns the Dials.
In “Rewiring Democracy,” Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders explore how AI could strengthen democracy or undermine it.
Key Takeaways
- AI’s impact on democracy depends less on the technology itself and more on how people choose to apply it.
- Schneier and Sanders argue that governments and citizens must demand responsible uses of AI that enhance speed, fairness, and accessibility in public systems.
- Without strong, activity-based regulation and public alternatives, AI risks concentrating political power and accelerating authoritarian tendencies.
You’d be forgiven for thinking AI represents a classic Faustian bargain, as every reported blessing seems tied to a sinister curse…
Closing the Year With the Books That Framed the Future
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As the year winds down, it feels like the right moment to look at the ideas that have influenced discussions about technology, leadership, and the changing demands on modern organizations.
The books in this roundup approach these themes in different ways.
Some explore how AI is used in real work, while others examine cybersecurity and the decisions that shape team environments.
Together, they offer a useful set of perspectives for anyone curious about the forces guiding the next stage of work and society.
…
Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship…
Book Review: Rewiring Democracy Offers a Nuanced Examination of AI’s Impact on Our Civic and Social Fabric
Readers need not be computer science graduates to understand the critical points being made. The result is a book that speaks to policymakers, civic technologists, and public servants without burying them in jargon.
Artificial intelligence has become perhaps the top buzzword of the decade. It has become impossible to walk a block without hearing an ad, seeing a sign on a bus, or eavesdropping into a conversation without noting the presence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, or an offering from a Silicon Valley startup.
Evident in the latest round of layoffs in greater Seattle, eager Big Tech executives are plowing ahead on a dangerous course they’ve charted. It is exhausting to find ourselves, once again, being sold every moment of our lives by a faceless corporation…
How AI Could Save Democracy Instead of Destroying It
Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders are asking the right question in their new book Rewiring Democracy: not whether AI will change politics, but how we can shape that change. The cybersecurity expert (behind Data and Goliath) and data scientist tackle something most AI discussions skip entirely—the nitty-gritty of democratic governance.
Their timing couldn’t be better. AI is already being used to draft legislation, analyze court documents, and run local political campaigns (most politics happens at low budgets, they point out, where AI tools can level the playing field for first-time candidates). The authors argue that AI amplifies power—and the crucial question is whose power gets amplified…
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.