From Digital India to Intelligent Governance: Examining the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Strengthening Democracy and Good Governance

Abstract

The fast evolution of Artificial Intelligence is changing the world governance system, providing new opportunities to improve the efficiency, transparency and involvement of citizens. The Indian context is where the government has been accelerating the adoption of AI with its efforts in digital governance towards intelligent governance through the efforts of the Digital India and other such programs. The aim of this research paper is to conceptually discuss how AI can be applied to improve democracy and good governance in India. The study will use a thematic approach as it adopts the method of a thematic analysis to synthesize the existing academic literature, policy reports and secondary sources to identify the main patterns and themes. The findings indicate that AI has an impressive role in enhancing the administration of services to the population through its contribution to automation, data-driven decision making and real-time monitoring, which culminates to the administrative efficiency and transparency. At the same time, because the AI-enabled platforms provide more people with a chance to attend to and engage in the processes, they are included in the democratic processes. However, there are also certain severe issues observed in the research, such as algorithmic bias, privacy problems, lack of transparency and digital exclusion that may undermine the accountability and trust of the people. The discussion points out the enabling and disruptive nature of AI to democratic governance. The research adds to the literature by offering a comprehensive view of intelligent governance in a developing economy and presents a policy-relevant information on responsible and inclusive implementation of AI in the governance system.