Perplexity debuts an AI-powered election information hub

AI hunt institution Perplexity is answering the question of whether it’s a bully thought to usage AI to service important voting accusation with a caller Election Information Hub it announced connected Friday. The hub offers things similar AI-generated answers to voting questions and summaries of candidates, and connected November 5th, Election Day, the institution says it volition way ballot counts live, utilizing information from The Associated Press.

Perplexity says its elector information, which includes polling requirements, locations, and times, is based connected information from Democracy Works. (The aforesaid radical powers akin features from Google). And that its election-related answers travel from “a curated acceptable of the astir trustworthy and informative sources.”

Perplexity spokesperson Sara Plotnick confirmed successful an email to The Verge that some AP and Democracy Works are authoritative partners for the hub. Plotnick elaborated connected Perplexity’s sources:

The hub serves up details astir what’s connected the ballot for immoderate determination you participate (for instance, an code oregon city). There are besides tabs for monitoring the elections for the President, US Senate, and US House arsenic they travel successful starting Tuesday, with per-state breakdowns showing the percent of votes counted and who’s leading.

The AI summaries erstwhile I clicked connected candidates had immoderate errors, similar failing to notation that Robert F. Kennedy, who’s connected the ballot wherever I live, had dropped retired of the race. It besides listed a “Future Madam Potus” campaigner that, erstwhile clicked, led maine to the supra summary of Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, but with immoderate meme pictures that aren’t successful her mean summary.

Plotnick said the institution is looking into wherefore the summary didn’t notation that Kennedy had dropped out. “Depending connected your location, sometimes write-in candidates volition appear,” Plotnick added by mode of explaining wherefore Future Madam Potus’ listing whitethorn person appeared. (It doesn’t explicate wherefore it summarized Harris, but Future Madam Potus is so moving arsenic a write-in candidate, according to Ballotpedia.)

The errors exemplify the situation of utilizing accuracy-challenged generative AI for specified a high-stakes usage case, and wherefore other AI companies person shied away from doing it. ChatGPT, Meta AI, and Google Gemini each deflect elector accusation questions to different resources similar canivote.org oregon Google Search. Microsoft’s Copilot simply refused to reply erstwhile I tried.