UK parliamentary candidate runs as 'first AI lawmaker' with interactive AI avatar

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UK parliamentary candidate runs as 'first AI lawmaker' with interactive AI avatar

United Kingdom businessman and MP candidate Steve Endacott campaigned using an AI-generated avatar that engages with locals on policy ideas and asks them for their suggestions. (Credit: Reuters)

• United Kingdom businessman and candidate to become a member of parliament, Steve Endacott, campaigned using an AI-generated avatar known as "AI Steve" that engages real-time with locals on various subjects and puts forth policy ideas before asking them for their suggestions.
• Endacott said his goal was to showcase artificial intelligence's ability to give voters more access to their parliamentary representatives, since the AI co-pilot would talk to voters around the clock and formulate policies, which would then be submitted to a group of 500 validators for vetting.
• AI Steve raises to voters the question of how artificial intelligence should be used in politics.

Are you worried about AI taking over your job? You can write to your local MP, who might just be an AI too.

Businessman Steve Endacott is among hundreds of candidates running in the July 4 national election in Britain to become a member of parliament (MP).

Here's his hook: the face on the campaign leaflet is an AI-generated avatar of the 59-year-old, not the man himself.

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And if his bid succeeds, it would give the world its first AI lawmaker.

Stood next to a human-size cutout of "AI Steve", Endacott held a mobile phone to curious passersby outside the historic Brighton pier at the southern English seaside town, encouraging them to give the technology a try.

The avatar engages real-time with locals on topics ranging from LGBTQ rights and housing, to bin collection and immigration. It then puts forth policy ideas before asking them for their suggestions.

The Houses of Parliament are seen in London, United Kingdom, on on June 12, 2024. Businessman Steve Endacott is running for parliament in a bid to become the world's "first AI lawmaker" with his artificial intelligence-created avatar, AI Steve. Voters can interact with AI Steve online at any time to ask questions or make suggestions about policy. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

Charity worker Eona Johnston, 23, from Brighton is open to AI Steve, but wants to see proof about its efficiency and trustworthiness.

"We're using AI in so many (areas), at work, social interactions, why don't we put it in politics? But how would we do it. We shouldn't be closed off to the idea," she said.

Endacott, whose Neural Voice company powers his AI alter ego, said his frustration with "standard politics" made him decide to run as an independent for the Brighton Pavilion seat, which is expected to be retained by the Green Party.

He said the goal was to showcase the technology's ability to give voters more access to their parliamentary representatives: "We want democracy reformed, we want people connected to their MPs, because current system is broken and not working."

In his second outing after losing in a local council election in 2022, Endacott said the AI co-pilot would talk to voters around the clock and formulate policies, which would then be put forward to a group of 500 validators for vetting.

"Even when a policy is created, it's got to get past the validators ... Nobody could easily hack the validators," he told Reuters.

When asked about AI Steve, the Electoral Commission stated that the MP would be the elected candidate, not "any AI generated application they choose to use."

Most locals appeared reluctant to vote for an AI candidate just yet, but viewed Endacott's pursuit as an important conversation to be had: the use of AI in politics.

While AI has been in use for decades, the rapid growth of ChatGPT since its launch in 2022 has thrust the technology into the mainstream, with many influential world figures, from Pope Francis to Elon Musk, advocating for tighter oversight.

Britain has been deeply divided in the run up to and since Brexit, with public trust and confidence in government at record lows and the governing Conservatives potentially facing an "electoral extinction."

Not everyone has taken kindly to AI Steve either, with death threats being directed at the technology.

"We just said: if you're big enough, see if you can find the plug," said a chuckling Endacott, who describes himself as someone from a working class background that has made money.

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Jim Cheek, a 37-year old accountant from Brighton, pointed out that an MP must be adept at public speaking as they have to make a case on behalf of their constituents in parliament, something that an AI lawmaker cannot do.

"I think an AI is only a small part of what makes a good MP or a bad MP so I would suggest perhaps it is a bit of a gimmick," Cheek said.

Another resident, Andy Clawson, 42, said: "AI and politicians have the one thing in common ... they can’t be trusted."