AI Governance under Political Turnover: The Alignment Surface of Compliance Design
Andrew J. Peterson
Why It Matters
What makes this one worth your time
Understanding the implications of AI governance in political contexts is crucial for ensuring that automated systems remain accountable and do not become tools for manipulation.
The research explores the dual nature of AI compliance in governance, highlighting both its benefits and vulnerabilities.
Summary
The paper develops a formal model to analyze how AI governance can be structured under political turnover, focusing on compliance layers that enhance oversight but may also be exploited by future administrations.
Key contributions
- Development of a formal model for AI governance under political turnover.
- Analysis of the relationship between compliance design and political exploitation.
- Insights into the long-term implications of AI integration in public administration.
Notable insights
- The model reveals how initial improvements in oversight can paradoxically lead to greater vulnerabilities over time.
- It highlights the challenge of unwinding AI systems once they are integrated into governance, emphasizing the need for careful design.
Possible limitations
- Not stated in the abstract.
Abstract
arXiv:2604.21103v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Governments are increasingly interested in using AI to make administrative decisions cheaper, more scalable, and more consistent. But for probabilistic AI to be incorporated into public administration it must be embedded in a compliance layer that makes decisions reviewable, repeatable, and legally defensible. That layer can improve oversight by making departures from law easier to detect. But it can also create a stable approval boundary that political successors learn to navigate while preserving the appearance of lawful administration. We develop a formal model in which institutions choose the scale of automation, the degree of codification, and safeguards on iterative use. The model shows when these systems become vulnerable to strategic use from within government, why reforms that initially improve oversight can later increase that vulnerability, and why expansions in AI use may be difficult to unwind. Making AI usable can thus make procedures easier for future governments to learn and exploit.