The increasing integration of AI into education, healthcare, and financial systems raises critical questions about the authority and agency governing these technologies. This paper argues for a "Right to AI," emphasizing the necessity of meaningful participation by individuals and communities in the development and governance of AI systems that shape their lives. It examines the profound societal impacts of AI, particularly the challenges of defining fairness, pluralism, and representation in systems marked by conflicting values and the marginalization of minority perspectives.

We critique the dominant paradigm of AI as a product designed by experts for passive users, proposing an alternative view of AI as societal infrastructure akin to cities, curricula, and healthcare systems, where co-productive approaches are vital. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre's concept of the "Right to the City"—which advocates for citizens' ability to understand and shape urban life through its inherent complexity rather than viewing it as a mere aggregation of sectors and artifacts—we argue that participatory approaches in AI can ensure the integration of diverse forms of knowledge into technology development.

By examining participatory practices in urban planning, education, healthcare, and software development, we identify lessons from both successful and challenging implementations to inform participatory methodologies for AI. We illustrate these dynamics through three case studies: (1) Co-Producing AI for Evaluating Public Spaces and (2) Participatory AI in Urban Design Visualization—both grounded in direct community engagement—and (3) Anthropic’s Collective Constitutional AI. These examples reveal challenges in integrating subjective values, managing stakeholder disagreements, and adapting training methods for pluralistic alignment. We also explore how generative AI alignment can facilitate a localized Right to AI, historically constrained by the data demands of large-scale models.

The analysis indicates that participatory approaches can enhance the ethical alignment and social responsiveness of AI systems. However, significant obstacles remain, including scalability within existing organizational structures and the time required to build trust among stakeholders. To address these challenges, we propose adopting community-based participation models, drawing inspiration from Jane Jacobs' grassroots activism in urban planning. Localized AI initiatives, grounded in small-scale and accountable governance structures, can embody the Right to AI by ensuring equitable access, participatory development, ethical use, transparency, and accountability. This framework positions the Right to AI as essential for aligning AI technologies with the diverse values and needs of the communities they serve and identifies promoting awareness of the Right to AI as the first step toward achieving it.