A US democrat, Shamaine Daniels, has used an artificial intelligence (AI) campaign caller named Ashley in her run for Congress ahead of the 2024 elections. The bot was developed by Civox using generative AI technology similar to that of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Ashley can engage in an unlimited number of real-time, customized conversations with voters, unlike past robocallers that employed pre-recorded responses.
- Ashley has already engaged with thousands of voters in Pennsylvania.
- The bot was trained using data from the internet.
- Civox is planning to make tens of thousands of calls daily by the end of the year.
While AI usage in U.S. elections has become a controversial topic recently, some companies are implementing safeguards to prevent the spread of misinformation. For instance, Google now mandates that AI usage in political campaign advertisements be disclosed, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has banned the use of generative AI ad-creation tools for political advertisers.
It’s interesting that Ashley has a robotic voice and informs voters that she’s an AI bot, even though there aren’t any legal requirements for her to do so. The exact generative AI models that Civox employed to create Ashley remain undisclosed, but the firm has stated that it’s leveraging over 20 different models, both proprietary and open-source.
This advancement in the use of AI in political campaigns points towards the wider adoption of this technology in the near future. Studies suggest that the use of AI on social media has significant potential to affect voter sentiment. However, accuracy remains a concern, such as Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot providing incorrect election information 30% of the time.
In conclusion, as AI continues to influence political campaigns, it’s crucial that measures are put in place to ensure that this tool is used responsibly. Safeguards against misuse and misinformation are becoming increasingly important to maintain the integrity of the election process.