June 11, 2025
Various AI tools are already supporting parliaments in decision-making, legislative scrutiny, citizens’ engagement, debate transcription, record management and social media monitoring.
However, the rapid adoption of AI in the parliamentary space raises critical questions about transparency, ethics, accountability, and the balance of power between the different branches of government in a democratic country.
Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the UK’s public body for international democracy support, recently published the world’s first guidelines for integrating AI in parliamentary functions. The guidelines identify a wide range of AI applications in parliaments and provide a framework to integrate AI within the parliamentary workspace.
In this interactive workshop, WFD together with a representative of the Hellenic Parliament will discuss the real-life cases of the use of AI to foster innovation and resilience in parliaments worldwide, balancing technological opportunities with ethical and cultural complexities, and impact assessments of the use of disruptive technologies and especially AI in parliaments.
In addition to unpacking these issues through an initial presentation, the workshop foresees structured audience participation that will invite participants to conduct an informed comparison and rating of practices of parliamentary AI use, engage in scoring AI risks in the parliamentary workspace, select and prioritise opportunities of AI in a democratic parliament and vote on suggested legislative proposals regulating AI policies (based on EP resolutions and the EU Act on AI).
Through this workshop, participants will gain skills to identify AI opportunities and risks in a democratic setting, learn about legislation and policymaking on AI governance, and learn about how AI is being applied to support effective and resilient parliaments around the world.