An aspiring British politician collaborated on his platform and used artificial intelligence (AI) to build his manifesto, a “brave” move despite its apparent failure, according to an expert.
“Andrew Gray had a brave idea, but after finishing 11th out of 13 candidates and with only 99 votes, I wouldn’t expect mainstream politicians to rush to copy his tactics just yet,” Alan Mendoza, co-founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital.
“That said, it’s clear that AI will have an impact on how UK political parties obtain and target data in the future, as well as focus their campaigns,” he argued. “We may not have to wait that long for the first victorious AI-inspired candidate, but they will certainly emerge from one of the major parties, with all the electoral advantages they already have.”
Gray stood for election in a by-election for the Selby and Ainsty constituency in North Yorkshire after Conservative Party member Nigel Adams stood down from his seat with immediate effect.
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This undated photo shows British political candidate Andrew Gray in Selby and Ainsty, England. Gray, who is running in a special election on Thursday, July 20, 2023, used artificial intelligence to make campaign promises that he says reflect what residents want. (Tim Cook/Campaign for Andrew Gray via AP)
The seat eventually went to Keir Mather, a 25-year-old Labor Party candidate, but Gray won 99 votes in the election using an AI-generated political manifesto. This won him more votes than the Climate Party candidate and an independent candidate, and fell short of the Heritage Party candidate and a Monster Raving Loony Party candidate.
Gray first asked constituents to voice their concerns about local issues on his website through a program called Pol.is, developed by a Seattle group a decade ago and mostly used in Taiwan to resolve gridlocked issues.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Gray argued that Pol.is is not the same as ChatGPT and other generative AI models, but a “slightly more sophisticated survey of what’s already happening.”
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“AI is not so smart that it can spit out exactly what the policies are,” Gray said, stressing that the process still needs “human moderation and … analysis of what would be a sensible policy position.”
But as the program polls users on a topic, it uses real-time machine learning to group statements and map them to identify gaps between viewpoints and points of agreement. Gray said he would use the technology weekly to get a sense of the constituency’s concerns.
Bringing this kind of approach to platform building can help bring voters into the election process in a more direct way, which would be “extremely attractive” for community engagement, according to Stacy Rosenberg, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy.
A counting officer watches as ballots are counted during the Selby and Ainsty by-election on July 21, 2023, in Selby, England. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Far from the kind of disinformation device that some people fear AI might become, a tool like Pol.is uses active conversations to gather its data sets, which can play to the crowd that “craves meaningful participation in the decision-making process,” Rosenberg explained to Fox News Digital.
“Giving voters who want a voice that power will be mutually beneficial for campaigns and constituents, as long as ethical considerations for public policy are taken into account.”
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Ultimately, AI will have deeper impacts on the electoral process, whether through collaborative policy platforms or using generative AI to help build models for speechwriting and marketing materials, Rosenberg noted. The key, he said, lies in promoting participation rather than giving AI full control of the process.
The biggest risk, however, would arise if a politician did not align with the views expressed through this crowdsourcing process and create a sense of “insincere” engagement, Rosenberg warned.
“Voters want candidates who share their views,” he said. “If they think a candidate can be swayed too easily by changing public opinion, they may not trust the politician to protect voters’ interests in the long run.”
Labor Party candidate Keir Mather celebrates winning by 16,456 votes in the Selby and Ainsty by-election on July 21, 2023 in Selby, England. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
“Politicians’ use of AI makes the candidate look tech-savvy, [and] could play well with voters in younger demographics or early adopters,” Rosenberg added, acknowledging that the technology could also alienate voters who remain skeptical of AI.
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“Politicians have to play with both types of constituents,” he said. “That way, interpersonal skills will continue to be important.”
Having lost the election, Gray will likely hand over the data he gathered, which he promised to do should his tilting at the windmill be unsuccessful. He claimed to have recorded 7,500 votes cast on the platform, which he acknowledges represents only a fraction of the total voting population in his constituency.
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Officially registered voters in the constituency are just over 80,000, although only around 36,000 people turned up to vote, a drop compared to the 2019 general election which saw around 56,400 people cast their ballots.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Peter Aitken is a reporter for Fox News Digital focusing on national and world news.
