In an unprecedented move, the Artificial Intelligence system AI Steve is running for the upcoming general elections in the United Kingdom next month. “AI Steve” represents British businessman Steve Indacott, who aims to use AI technology to create a greater direct communication line between politicians and their voters. Indacott serves as the chairman of Neural Voice company, which specializes in developing AI-powered voice assistants. The iconic image of “AI Steve” was created using Neural Voice technology to illustrate how a politician supported by artificial intelligence could look like. Indacott will attend gatherings and meetings on behalf of “AI Steve”, but it is still unclear whether his candidacy for elected positions is legally valid or not.
While the concept of a legislator operating with Artificial Intelligence may seem strange, Indacott insists that the issue is not a joke but a way to “reinvent democracy” and add more direct interaction for voters in the political process continuously, as reported by “NBC News” website last week.
Indacott aims to “bring about a radical change in democracy” by involving voters in policy-making processes. This will be achieved through “AI Steve”, which excels in conducting thousands of conversations simultaneously.
“AI Steve” is not the only AI entity entering the parliamentary elections arena. In Belarus, “Yas Husbaddar” has been nominated, created using GPT-4 from OpenAI, and “Virtual Integrated Citizen” (VIC) has been nominated for the position of mayor of Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming, USA.
If “AI Steve” succeeds in the elections, it will be the first AI-powered entity elected to a public office, despite previous candidates using AI assistants. Critics view it as a mere gimmick, but Indacott believes that AI can “humanize politics” by facilitating interaction with voters.
However, the use of Artificial Intelligence raises concerns due to its inability to empathize and understand human emotions, in addition to worries about decision-making based on historical data that may contain biases or marginalization of certain groups.