An artificial intelligence candidate will be on the ballot for the United Kingdom’s general election next month.
“AI Steve,” backed by Sussex businessman Steve Endacott, will compete with human candidates to represent people in the Brighton Pavilion area in Brighton and Hove, a city on England’s southern coast.
“AI Steve is the AI co-pilot,” Endacott said. “I’m the real politician going into Parliament, but I’m guided by my co-pilot.”
Endacott is the chairman of Neural Voice, a company that makes personalized voice assistants using AI. AI Steve is one of the characters created by Neural Voice to show their technology.
The idea is to use AI to create a politician who is always available to talk with people and consider their views.
People can ask AI Steve questions or share opinions on Endacott’s policies on its website. A large language model will respond in voice and text based on information about his party’s policies.
If there is no policy for an issue, the AI will research online before engaging the voter and asking them to suggest a policy.
AI Steve, which is open to the public to try, told NBC News about its stance on Brexit: “The UK voted to leave, and it’s my job to implement this decision, regardless of my personal views.”
It added, “Do you have any thoughts on how Brexit should be managed in the future?”
Endacott is also seeking “validators,” people he believes represent the common man, especially Brighton locals with long daily commutes.
“We’re asking them once a week to score our policies from 1 to 10. If a policy gets more than 50%, it gets passed. That’s the official party policy,” he said. “Every single policy, I will say that my decision is my voters’ decision. I’m connected to my voters weekly via electronic means.”
In 2022, Endacott ran unsuccessfully in a local election under the Conservative Party, receiving less than 500 votes. This time, the unique nature of his candidacy sparked conversation on social media, leading to around 1,000 calls to the AI in one night.
Source: nbcnews
