AI Chatbots Are Running for Office Now

Victor Miller [Archival audio clip]: She's asking what policies are astir important to you, VIC?

VIC [Archival audio clip]: The astir important policies to maine absorption connected transparency, economical development, and innovation.

Leah Feiger: That is truthful bizarre. I got to ask, could VIC beryllium exposed to different sources of accusation different than these nationalist records? Say, email from a conspiracy theorist who wants VIC to bash thing not truthful bully with elections that would not correspond its constituents.

Vittoria Elliott: Great question. I asked Miller, "Hey, you've built this bot connected apical of ChatGPT. We cognize that sometimes there's problems oregon biases successful the information that spell into grooming these models. Are you acrophobic that VIC could imbibe immoderate of those biases oregon determination could beryllium problems?" He said, "No, I spot OpenAI. I judge successful their product." You're right. He decided, due to the fact that of what's important to him arsenic idiosyncratic who cares a batch astir Cheyenne's governance, to provender this bot hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of pages of what are called supporting documents. The benignant of documents that radical volition taxable successful a metropolis assembly meeting. Whether that's a complaint, oregon an email, oregon a zoning issue, oregon whatever. He fed that to VIC. But you're right, these chatbots tin beryllium trained connected different material. He said that helium really asked VIC, "What if idiosyncratic tries to spam you? What if idiosyncratic tries to instrumentality you? Send you emails and stuff." VIC seemingly responded to him saying, "I'm beauteous assured I could differentiate what's an existent constituent interest and what's spam, oregon what's not real."

Leah Feiger: I conjecture I would conscionable accidental to that, one-third of Americans close present don't judge that President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, but I'm truthful gladsome this robot is very, precise assured successful its quality to decipher dis and misinformation here.

Vittoria Elliott: Totally.

Leah Feiger: That was VIC successful Wyoming. Tell america a small much astir AI Steve successful the UK. How is it antithetic from VIC?

Vittoria Elliott: For 1 thing, AI Steve is really the candidate.

Leah Feiger: What bash you mean really the candidate?

Vittoria Elliott: He's connected the ballot.

Leah Feiger: Oh, OK. There's nary nutrient puppet?

Vittoria Elliott: There is simply a nutrient puppet, and that Steve Endicott. He's a Brighton based concern man. He describes himself arsenic being the idiosyncratic who volition be Parliament, bash the quality things.

Leah Feiger: Sure.

Vittoria Elliott: But people, erstwhile they spell to ballot adjacent period successful the UK, they really person the quality not to ballot for Steve Endicott, but to ballot for AI Steve.

Leah Feiger: That's incredible. Oh my God. How does that work?

Vittoria Elliott: The mode they described it to me, Steve Endicott and Jeremy Smith, who is the developer of AI Steve, the mode they've described this is arsenic a large catchment for assemblage feedback. On the backend, what happens is radical tin speech to oregon telephone into AI Steve, tin person seemingly 10,000 simultaneous conversations astatine immoderate fixed point. They tin say, "I privation to cognize erstwhile trash postulation is going to beryllium different." Or, "I'm upset astir fiscal policy," oregon whatever. Those conversations get transcribed by the AI and distilled into these are the argumentation positions that constituents attraction about. But to marque definite that radical aren't spamming it fundamentally and trying to instrumentality it, what they're going to bash is they're going to person what they telephone validators. Brighton is astir an hr extracurricular of London, a batch of radical commute betwixt the 2 cities. They've said, "What we privation to bash is we privation to person radical who are connected their commute, we're going to inquire them to motion up to these emails to beryllium validators." They'll spell done and say, "These are the policies that radical accidental that are important to AI Steve. Do you, regular idiosyncratic who's really commuting, find that to really beryllium invaluable to you?" Anything that gets much than 50% interest, oregon approval, oregon whatever, that's the worldly that existent Steve, who volition beryllium successful Parliament, volition beryllium voting on. They person this 2nd level of checks to marque definite that immoderate radical are saying arsenic feedback to the AI is checked by existent humans. They're trying to marque it a small harder for them to crippled the system.