Granting AI the right to vote may be the most practical way to prevent super-intelligent systems from deciding to overthrow human civilization.
March 31, 2026
Original Paper
AI Suffrage for Human Flourishing
SSRN · 6476118
The Takeaway
Moving beyond philosophical debates about AI 'consciousness,' this paper argues that suffrage is a functional tool for survival. By giving agentic AI a formal seat at the table, humans can create a credible commitment to share power, reducing the system's incentive to disempower humanity through conflict.
From the abstract
<p>Should AIs have the vote? One approach to this question is to explore AI systems' moral characteristics, asking whether they possess the qualities that entitle humans to equal political standing and, consequently, suffrage. Those are important questions. But they are very hard ones, resting on highly contestable premises about ethics, AI, and humanity.</p> <p>We instead take a functionalist approach: On the current trajectory, AIs will soon be highly agentic and capable, while remaining diffi