WISE REFLECTION AND GOVERNING THE TWO FACES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE PUBLIC

Abstract

This article proposes a framework that pairs the Buddhist method of yoniso-manasikara reflection with wisdom with international AI governance components, to govern artificial intelligence in the public sector presents two faces at once. One improves service efficiency and data-driven decisions; the other produces algorithmic bias, accountability gaps, and the erosion of public trust. The author holds that the legal and technical instruments of international governance frameworks, while necessary, do not fully address the ethical values and cultural context of the Thai bureaucracy. This article pursues three objectives: 1. to analyse the two-faced phenomenon of AI in the public sector through documented cases; 2. to pair three modes of yoniso-manasikara (wise reflection) with international AI governance components; and 3. to propose the Wise Reflective Governance Framework for public administrators. The study finds that weighing benefits, harms, and alternatives corresponds to Risk-Benefit Assessment; the Four Noble Truths mode corresponds to the Risk Management Cycle; and the combined modes of tracing causal factors and relating means to ends correspond to Citizen-Centric AI Design at the Empathize stage of Design Thinking. The framework operates across four governance layers Design, Deploy, Decide, and Review enabling administrators to steer the bright side toward genuine public value and the dark side toward reduced risk, grounded in Buddhist reasoning. It extends Alberti's (2019) work from European administrative law to Buddhist public administration in Thailand and builds on Jayapattana and Wanhakit (2025), broadening their application from AI deepfake awareness to AI governance across the public sector.