As America went to the polls last night I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a better way. A way to better capture public opinion and popular sentiment. A way to better have our voices heard without having to deal with all the divisiveness and extremism that currently mars politics. Well, perhaps there is. If we turn to AI to give a voice to the voiceless.
Vice explains:
“The Synthetic Party, a new Danish political party with an artificially intelligent representative and policies derived from AI, is eyeing a seat in parliament as it hopes to run in the country’s November general election.
The party was founded in May by the artist collective Computer Lars and the non-profit art and tech organization MindFuture Foundation. The Synthetic Party’s public face and figurehead is the AI chatbot Leader Lars, which is programmed on the policies of Danish fringe parties since 1970 and is meant to represent the values of the 20 percent of Danes who do not vote in the election. Leader Lars won’t be on the ballot anywhere, but the human members of The Synthetic Party are committed to carrying out their AI-derived platform…
Some of the policies that The Synthetic Party is proposing include establishing a universal basic income of 100,000 Danish kroner per month, which is equivalent to $13,700, and is over double the Danish average salary. Another proposed policy change is to create a jointly-owned internet and IT sector in the government that is on par with other public institutions.”
Giving AI sole control over our policies may not yet be a good idea but I like this hybrid approach wherein AI is representing a group of people that otherwise wouldn’t be represented and still have humans to represent them and carry out their recommendations. So, what do you think? Would you vote for an AI or follow its policies? Surely, it can’t be much worse than voting Republican right now.
Is the Synthetic Party the Greatest Idea Ever?
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