AI and Redistricting: Useful Tool for the Courts or Another Source of Obfuscation?

Redistricting is a politically fraught exercise. Recently, new technology has emerged that has the potential to improve the redistricting process by providing information to aid in judicial oversight. These scientific advances create the potential to improve societal governance but are also potentially manipulable by partisan interests. To avoid these negative externalities, we must thoughtfully design the processes, implement safeguards, and have clear policies that regulate and steer the emerging AI toward democratically favorable goals. We propose institutional changes toward these aims.