RAISD – How AI is impacting democracy and society

Ongoing project
Project duration: January 2026 to December 2028

In our daily lives, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms are playing an increasingly significant role:

• Search engines like Google are increasingly relying on AI-generated summaries, which are not always reliable - yet we still turn to them as a source of information and to form our opinions.
• Social media providers design their algorithms to keep our attention on their platforms for as long as possible. This can also lead to them increasingly spreading false, inflammatory, toxic or other harmful content.
• Generative AI makes it easier to create polarizing content and then spread it widely across platforms.
• AI chatbots like ChatGPT are becoming increasingly prevalent in more and more areas of our daily lives. Whether for health questions, tax matters or therapeutic purposes, AI chatbots are increasingly being used as personal advisors. So-called “AI companions” serve as personal companions or even romantic partners.

These technological developments have consequences, both for us as individuals and for our society and thus for our democracy.

"RAISD" conducts research on AI, society & democracy in Switzerland

Public discourse on artificial intelligence often lacks well-founded insights focused on the societal impacts in Switzerland. Through the joint research project “RAISD – Researching AI, Society & Democracy in Switzerland”, AlgorithmWatch CH and the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich aim to strengthen the public debate on algorithms, AI, democracy and society through evidence-based technical and social science analyses in the Swiss context.

RAISD investigates the societal impacts of algorithms and AI in Switzerland by addressing the following questions:

• How do algorithms and AI specifically affect society, social cohesion, public debate and opinion formation in Switzerland?
• Where do we find evidence and examples of the impact of algorithms and AI on society and where is it lacking?
• How can the development and use of algorithms and AI be shaped responsibly at the technical and societal levels to promote lasting innovations that are socially relevant and in the interest of the public?

Methods

We address these questions through data collection, technical and social science research and the development of open-source tools. The results of our research, as well as the resulting datasets and tools, can be used by researchers and the media for their own investigations. In this way, RAISD contributes to current research in this field while also bringing relevant research into the public debate. Furthermore, RAISD addresses policymakers and government agencies, for whom our research can serve as a basis for developing regulatory frameworks.

The project combines the evidence-based advocacy approach of AlgorithmWatch CH with the academic expertise of the Social Computing Group at the University of Zurich’s Department of Computer Science. This way, RAISD also helps strengthen the collaboration between academia and civil society in this dynamic field.

Project members:

• Dr. Corinna Hertweck, project coordinator, tech researcher Algorithmwatch CH & Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich
• Dr. Oliver Marsh, research lead, Head of Tech Research AlgorithmWatch
• Dr. Angela Müller, strategic lead, Executive Director AlgorithmWatch CH
• Prof. Dr. Anikó Hannák, Associate Professor, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich
• Dr. Aleksandra Urman, Senior Research Associate, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich