AI-driven Mayor Contenders Left in the Lurch as OpenAI Suspends Assistance Tools
A fellow by the name of Miller proposed a chatbot named VIC, short for "virtual integrated citizen", to handle political decisions and aide in city governance using technology from AI company OpenAI. VIC ain't affiliated with none of them political parties.
AI's been helpful in Miller's personal life, like aiding him with his resume, he shared with CNN. He thinks it could bring an extra edge to town governance and hoped to see it becoming a reality.
Sadly, OpenAI had to block Miller's access to the tool he used to convince voters 'cause using ChatGPT in that manner, according to the company, violates their policies.
The fast advancement of AI is complicating politics as regulators, corporations, and consumers are still figuring out how to use AI responsibly, while the technology keeps moving ahead without looking back.
OpenAI took action against Miller for politically campaigning with their tech, stating on their website that their policies prohibit political campaigning and lobbying.
Miller came up with the idea for VIC after getting denied access to city records about policies since he made his request anonymously. He believed an AI chatbot would know the law and he would've gotten the records if he could've asked it.
The city didn't respond to a comment on denying the records, but Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray told CNN Miller's mayoral bid is under close watch. Gray asserted that an AI bot ain't a qualified elector since Wyoming law states only real people can run for office.
Gray also hinted that VIC is just a front for Miller’s candidacy. He wrote a letter to the Cheyenne municipal clerk expressing concerns about the bid.
Although OpenAI removed the public-facing version of VIC, Miller stated it's still operational on his own ChatGPT account. He plans to bring it and a microphone to a local Cheyenne library and allow voters to ask it questions via its voice-to-text feature.
OpenAI also took action against another candidate in the UK who was using its AI models to campaign for Parliament. Steve Endacott, chairman of an AI company called Neural Voice, answers questions from voters via AI Steve, a chatbot, on his site. He's running as an independent.
Endacott's website offered a ChatGPT chatbot, where voters could leave opinions and help create policies. It would conduct a search and create a policy suggestion when asked about AI Steve's policies, but didn't have an answer. While his website continues to operate, the tool is no longer powered by ChatGPT.
Experts told CNN that AI chatbots shouldn't make decisions in any part of government and should always support human judgment. They emphasized AI's design is for decision support, not decision-making itself.
)}_{Emergence of AI political candidates has raised concerns about misinformation impacting elections. For instance, a fake recording of a candidate in Slovakia claiming he rigged the election went viral earlier this year. While AI can be useful for tasks like answering constituent forms or directing problem-solving, experts believe decision making should remain in the hands of humans. Researchers David Karpf, an associate professor at George Washington University, agrees, asserting that AI chatbots running for office should be seen as a gimmick and not taken seriously. He believes formal legislation isn't necessary since no one would vote for an AI chatbot to run a city. Karpf believes the timing of these cases is significant, given the upcoming serious election. Regardless, Miller hopes his efforts inspire more AI candidates worldwide.}
