Written by
Reema Patel, Rich Wilson / Mar 4, 2025
https://www.techpolicy.press/could-a-global-citizens-assembly-rebalance-...
A Global Citizens Assembly, an institution that activates and educates millions of people about the future of AI governance, provides great potential for us to rebalance the nationalist AI arms race in the interests of people and the planet. Indeed, such an institution is currently being set up, albeit with an initial focus on climate and COP30.
In particular, it can inject much-needed public voices into the AI debate, precious few of which were included at the Paris AI Action Summit. As expected, civil society wasn’t able to exert much influence on the proceedings. Instead, the dynamics at the Summit reflected the emergence of a no-holds-barred AI arms race between the four big AI power blocks of the USA, EU, India, and China, once described by Ian Hogarth in 2018 as “AI nationalism.”.
The current situation
The rise of AI nationalism was further illustrated by the response to China’s recent release of DeepSeek, with some US tech leaders questioning whether its claims stood up to reality. Others, such as the Indian government, have banned the use of DeepSeek entirely. Last month saw world leaders “vying for AI domination’ at the Summit,” with almost all the focus on a dash for growth, not how to responsibly manage AI. Responsible AI advocate Professor Gina Neff has highlighted a ‘vacuum for global leadership’ on AI. There’s been close to zero progress on any effective AI global regulatory regime that can hold the main developers of the technology to account, and the general consensus is that Trump's recent election has made that much harder.
Where does power lie?
Power in shaping AI currently lies at the global level, not at the national level. So far, national-level regulation tends to be predominantly retrospective and harm-based, not fit for the purpose and nature of the technology we are dealing with.
A handful of powerful organizations, spanning Silicon Valley giants and state-backed research labs, are shaping the future of AI. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is at the forefront with its cutting-edge language models, while Google DeepMind continues to push the boundaries of AI through breakthroughs in deep learning and reinforcement learning. Meanwhile, China’s government—through tech behemoths like Baidu and Tencent—is driving an aggressive AI strategy aimed at global dominance. Regulators such as the European Union’s AI Act and initiatives like the UK’s AI Safety Institute are scrambling to develop and impose ethical guardrails but are getting limited traction so far.
The geopolitics of AI nationalism—a troubling dynamic whereby states compete to dominate AI development worsens these issues. It has led to a dangerous race to the bottom, prioritizing economic and geopolitical advantage over the development of safe and responsible AI. This narrow, competitive approach is failing us.
AI nationalism has eroded opportunities for international cooperation on AI governance, has marginalized and excluded public voices from decision-making about AI, and contributed to overlooking urgent challenges. AI is already playing a lead role in advancing autonomous weapons and cyber warfare, and AI-driven misinformation and deepfakes have undermined truth and democracy.
As AI continues to accelerate resource-intensive extractive economic models that place pressures and demands on labor and data across the AI supply chain, reinforce racial and structural inequalities, and entrench emissions-heavy uses and applications, we must ask: Who is holding AI decision-makers to account?
Given that we have a decent idea of where the power lies, the question becomes, how have citizens shaped technologies before, and what might work now?
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About the authors
Reema Patel, Founder/CEO of Elgon Social and researcher based at the ESRC Digital Good Network, is a leading voice in democratic innovation and AI governance. She currently works on the Digital Good Network, Public Voices in AI, and she directs the Global Citizens' Assembly. She is also an EDI associate to the Wellcome Trust, advising the trust on the development and implementation of their equity framework. Previously, Reema was a founder of the Ada Lovelace Institute and leader of the Citizens Economy program at the RSA. Reema directed the Global Science Partnership for climate action as part of the UK's COP26 Presidency.
Rich, CEO of Iswe, is a leading voice in democratic innovation. He is working to establish a permanent Global Citizens’ Assembly, giving millions a role in decision-making.
In 2003, he founded Involve, which became a global leader in democratic reform under his leadership. He played a key role in shaping policy for the Blair and Brown governments. A senior adviser to many national governments, he has also worked with the UNDP, WHO, OECD, philanthropy, civil society groups, and more.
A trustee of Local Trust, he received the Democracy Network Equality and Power Award in 2022. He began his career as a climate analyst with SPRU, the IPPC, and the Environment Council. A prolific writer, his work appears in The Guardian, Carnegie Europe, New Internationalist, and others. He is the author of Anti Hero and a Clore Social Fellow.
Reema Patel, Founder/CEO of Elgon Social and researcher based at the ESRC Digital Good Network, is a leading voice in democratic innovation and AI governance. She currently works on the Digital Good Network, Public Voices in AI, and she directs the Global Citizens' Assembly. She is also an EDI associate to the Wellcome Trust, advising the trust on the development and implementation of their equity framework. Previously, Reema was a founder of the Ada Lovelace Institute and leader of the Citizens Economy program at the RSA. Reema directed the Global Science Partnership for climate action as part of the UK's COP26 Presidency..
