This final recipe focuses on the role of the facilitator when AI is integrated into a democratic process. It provides practical guidance on how to support participants in engaging critically, confidently, and reflectively with AI systems embedded in deliberation.

Facilitating AI-embedded processes means balancing technical complexity with human trust and participation. Facilitators don’t need to be AI experts—but they do need to guide participants through experiences that reveal how the system works, what its limitations are, and how its outputs should (or should not) influence collective decision-making.

This recipe includes strategies for introducing friction, encouraging questioning, managing group dynamics, and holding space for disagreement—not just with each other, but with the AI itself. It draws on practical insights from live use cases in the KT4D project, where participants worked with a purpose-built demonstrator to explore speculative policy questions.

This recipe is part of the Digital Democracy Lab Handbook — a practical resource for facilitators, technologists, and public sector actors exploring how AI can support meaningful democratic exchange.