Delegating Information Processing

Abstract This chapter focuses on how the costs of information processing are managed through some form of delegation, and the tradeoffs between different goals and values that result. The processing of information from the public can be delegated to expert intelligence, to collective intelligence, or to artificial intelligence, but each of these comes with downsides and limitations. For some types of information processing where domain-specific knowledge is needed, there is a trilemma between goals of efficiency, accuracy, and impartiality. At most two of these goals can be pursued, while any third must remain necessarily limited. This chapter also highlights the limitations of artificial intelligence, contrary to much recent optimism about its applications in participatory and deliberative institutions. As a way forward, it discusses the opportunities for hybrid approaches to information processing that involve some delegation to artificial intelligence while still involving human domain-specific knowledge.