Applications of Artificial Intelligence Tools to Enhance Legislative Engagement: Case Studies from Make.Org and MAPLE

Abstract: This paper is a collaboration between Make.org and the Massachusetts Platform for Legislative Engagement (MAPLE), two non-partisan civic technology organizations building novel AI deployments to improve democratic capacity. Make.org, a civic innovator in Europe, is developing massive online participative platforms that can engage hundreds of thousands or even millions of participants. MAPLE, a volunteer-led NGO in the United States, is creating an open-source platform to help constituents understand and engage more effectively with the state law-making process. We believe that assistive integrations of AI can meaningfully impact the equity, efficiency, and accessibility of democratic legislating. We draw generalizable lessons from our experience in designing, building, and operating civic engagement platforms with AI integrations. We discuss four dimensions of legislative engagement that benefit from AI integrations: (1) making information accessible, (2) facilitating expression, (3) supporting deliberation, and (4) synthesizing insights. We present learnings from current, in development, and contemplated AI-powered features, such as summarizing and organizing policy information, supporting users in articulating their perspectives, and synthesizing consensus and controversy in public opinion. We outline what challenges needed to be overcome to deploy these tools equitably and discuss how Make.org and MAPLE have implemented and iteratively improved those concepts to make citizen assemblies and policymaking more participatory and responsive. We compare and contrast the approaches of Make.org and MAPLE, as well as how jurisdictional differences alter the risks and opportunities for AI deployments seeking to improve democracy. We conclude with recommendations for governments and NGOs interested in enhancing legislative engagement.