“Perplexity Plunges into Live Election Monitoring, Leaving Other AI Firms in its Comedic Dust”

“Perplexity Dove Into Real-Time Election Tracking While Other AI Companies Held Back”

“For most of the past four centuries, the procedure for US presidential elections has remained the same: Citizens vote, states tally the votes, and the candidate who garners the most wins. That’s still true, but in the days leading up to November 3, 2020, it often didn’t feel that way,” reports Wired. It’s curiously intriguing how mundane procedures, and not just in the U.S., can suddenly become disoriented and suspiciously complex when technology interferes.

Traditionally, the strategy has been simple enough – you cast your vote, it gets counted, and the candidate with the majority emerges victorious. But in the 2020 U.S. Presidential elections, the irritatingly long intermission between casting the votes and declaring the results, sprinkled with high-tech chaos, has undoubtedly left a sour taste in voters’ mouths globally.

Big data and artificial intelligence have opened a Pandora’s box, where the ballot box once stood firm and stoically analog. Now we have dopamine-inducing predictions dished out on a platter a week ahead of final announcements. To the fanatics of reality shows, spoiler alert: it might rob you of suspense, drama, and shock value. But for democracy? Well, let’s call it a heady concoction of anticipation and consternation, trying to predict and ponder the future of the world’s oldest democracy!

Then there’s the sheer audacity of “Perplexity,” Wired’s real-time election forecast site. A melting pot of innovative tech and audacious predictions, it is no less than a performance artist, relying on a steady diet of complex statistical models. But the irony is: even such advanced technology can’t hasten the snail-paced official vote counting. One could argue, it only complicates matters further, perfecting the art of genial obfuscation.

Between the anxiety and anticipation of election results, the stats and forecasts offered by Perplexity and its ilk appear like the proverbial mirage in a desert. It reassures you of an imminent result, only for you to realize it was just another cleverly crafted illusion.

In conclusion, as Wired profoundly puts it, “the vote-counting process—in all its antiquated glamour—will chug on”. So while we’re assured that the digital pandemonium isn’t about to replace the old school charm of democratic vote counting, the onus lies on us to navigate the baffling labyrinth of tech-enhanced electioneering. Grains of salt might prove handy!

Read the original article here: https://www.wired.com/story/perplexity-election-tracking/