In an essay for Noema Magazine, HennyGe Wichers argues that AI systems designed to manufacture consensus, such as the Habermas Machine and a chatbot developed by Japan’s Team Mirai, can undermine democracy by resolving disagreements before public deliberation occurs. Wichers contends that healthy democratic politics depends on ongoing conflict over values rather than algorithmic agreement, and that AI tools optimized for consensus embed political choices invisibly into their design.
