Democracy and Capitalism in the Age of AI: Searching for a New Equilibrium

Historically, democracy (political equality) and capitalism (economic efficiency and inequality) have formed the foundation of modern society — in tension, yet mutually complementary.

But AI is now redefining that very equilibrium. The automation of knowledge work, the concentration of data and computing power, and the spread of algorithmic decision-making are raising new questions about the assumptions underlying market competition and democratic consensus-building.

At the same time, AI carries risks such as accelerating division and concentrating power — but it also holds the potential to advance public administration, expand civic participation, and create new forms of the public sphere.

This session examines, from multiple angles, how AI is transforming the structures of capitalism (markets, labor, and the distribution of wealth) and shaking the foundations of democracy (information, consensus-building, and legitimacy).

Furthermore — both democracy and capitalism rest on the culture that underpins them: what people regard as good, how they trust one another, and what they consider valuable in life. However sophisticated our institutions, if that culture erodes, both will collapse. Populism and extreme polarization are a degradation of democratic culture; treating money as the sole measure of a life is a degradation of capitalist culture. And AI reaches deep into this cultural layer too — fueling competition for attention, stoking division, and potentially compressing a diversity of values into a single metric. The question extends beyond institutional design: in the age of AI, how do we cultivate the culture that sustains democracy and a "good capitalism"?

Who will lead rule-making in the age of AI — the state, Big Tech, or civil society? And what equilibrium can "political equality" and "economic efficiency" find under this new variable called AI? We will discuss these questions.