AI Robot Makes Pennsylvania Candidate the First to Call Voters
“Pennsylvania candidate first to use AI robot to call voters”
“Sam DeMarco, a candidate for Allegheny County Council, is the first known United States politician to use AI to personally ‘call’ voters en masse in his 2023 reelection campaign,” states the original DailyAI article. It appears that our future political encounters won’t be with the politicians themselves, but rather with their AI-powered counterparts. Welcome to the brave new world of artificial intelligence taking center stage in politics.
At a first glance, delegating tasks to AI seems like a smart move, streamlining the campaigning process and making it more efficient. No more worn-out volunteers, repetitive campaign calls, or misdialed numbers. Instead, the air will now be filled with the symphony of AI bots, ticking boxes and handing out pre-recorded messages with surgical precision. Farewell to the days of grassroots politics with a touch of human spirit.
The subject of our discussion, Mr. DeMarco, has partnered with LzLabs, a Swiss tech company, to execute this innovative approach. Their software, a self-proclaimed “autonomous persuasion engine,” reportedly delivers “personalized political communications at scale.” It’s a whole new level of political engagement. One would almost miss the warmth of a human voice behind those calls, almost.
But don’t be mistaken, this game-changing technology isn’t without its fair share of quirks. The AI robo-calls have, at times, failed to address the recipients by their proper names and have even garbled a few responses, sending a gobbledegook of robotic syntax instead. Surely, that’s the kind of gracious gaffe that would win over flickering undecided voters.
In truth, though, embracing technology in politics is nothing revolutionary, it’s just that AI is the new kid on the block. Long gone are the days of knocking on doors or sending out handwritten letters. Now? It’s AI or bust. Even traditional polling has been transformed, with data analytics companies using AI to predict voter behavior. It’s as if the election crystal ball has been passed from the fortune tellers to the tech geeks.
The article ends on a somewhat somber note. It states that “the future of AI in politics is uncertain, with technologists predicting everything from AI politicians to AI voting systems.” The road ahead is obscure indeed. Will AI politicians one day deliver campaign speeches and debate opponents? Well, at least that would save us from some eyebrow-raising political blunders.
And so, the final act in the drama of DeMarco’s campaign ends with few answers but a myriad of questions. Yes, technology is playing a larger role than ever in politics. Yes, AI robots may one day take center stage. And yes, we might be seeing the dawn of a new era. Just don’t expect the encore to be without a few hiccups along the way. After all, it takes more than an algorithm to get your hands dirty in the game of politics.