How does the use of AI for microtargeting undermine voter self-governance according to the chapter?

According to the chapter, AI-driven microtargeting undermines voter self-governance by forcing people to make decisions based on appeals to their prejudices, using data collected about them, rather than through informed deliberation. This deviates from democracy's core value of informed decision-making, where voters are expected to decide after receiving actual information and engaging in reasoned debate.

The chapter explains that AI's application of big data for microtargeting undermines voter self-governance because political campaigns use detailed personal data to target voters' psychological and social vulnerabilities. This approach manipulates individual preferences and steers people toward decisions that are not genuinely their own, contradicting the democratic ideal that elections should reflect informed choice. The text highlights cases like Cambridge Analytica, where AI-based targeted messages helped sway major elections, and emphasizes that voters are often unaware of how their data is being used, deepening concerns about consent, transparency, and the erosion of autonomous political judgment.