AI Chatbots Are Running for Office Now
WIRED Politics Lab
WIRED
4.2 • 244 Ratings
🗓️ 13 June 2024
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we're digging into AI chatbots. In a bizarre turn of events, two AI chatbots are running for elected office for the first time—ever. VIC is campaigning for mayor in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and AI Steve is running for Parliament in the UK. Reporter Vittoria Elliot interviewed both of the bots and the people behind them. She explains their motivations, and if any of this is even legal. Meanwhile, reporter David Gilbert talks about how Google and Microsofts’ AI chatbots are refusing to confirm who won the 2020 election.
Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Vittoria Elliot is @telliotter. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.
Mentioned this week:
An AI Bot Is (Sort of) Running for Mayor in Wyoming by Vittoria Elliot
Google’s and Microsoft’s AI Chatbots Refuse to Say Who Won the 2020 US Election by David GilbertThere’s an AI Candidate Running for Parliament in the UK by Vittoria Elliot.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | eBay. It's a place to fall in love with new, pre-loved, vintage and rare fashion over and over again. |
| 0:07.1 | Your favorite designers, expertly authenticated. Yeah, eBay. Things people love. |
| 0:18.0 | Welcome to Wired Politics Lab, a show about how tech is changing politics. I'm Leah Figer, the senior |
| 0:23.8 | politics editor at Wired. We've been talking a lot on this show about how disruptive AI is for elections this year. |
| 0:30.5 | Generative AI is making it harder than ever to tell what's real and what's not in our politics. People are |
| 0:35.6 | creating fake audio and video of politicians, |
| 0:37.9 | celebrities, anyone really, and then using that content to try and spread disinformation and |
| 0:42.9 | sway election results. Not only that, but the AI platforms themselves, like Google's Gemini |
| 0:48.0 | and Microsoft's co-pilot, are refusing to clearly state the real winner of the 2020 U.S. election. |
| 0:54.2 | We'll talk about that later in the show. |
| 0:56.1 | But first, I really didn't think that I could be thrown off by much anymore when it came |
| 1:00.7 | to the use of AI in politics. |
| 1:02.8 | But this week, Wired reporter Victoria Elliott published two stories that, to be honest, |
| 1:07.9 | totally caught me by surprise. |
| 1:09.9 | There are actual AI candidates on the ballot right now. |
| 1:14.5 | Not one, but two chatbots are running for elected office. |
| 1:18.2 | And Tori managed to interview both the AI candidates and their developers. |
| 1:22.2 | Tori, hi, I have so many questions. |
| 1:25.2 | But first, can you just tell us what's going on? |
| 1:28.4 | Yeah, it's crazy. |
| 1:30.5 | There are two candidates on actual ballots this year, at least that we know of. |
| 1:35.2 | There might be more. |
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