The use of chatbots in Indian politics has brought about a revolution – one that has opened the avenue to cutting-edge technology, from agenda-setting to agenda-fulfilling. ChatGPT, a leading chatbot in the AI community is being used to conceive of, plan and draft politician’s speeches as well as to create market plans. However, the negative implications of such an implementation, in terms of accuracy and reliability, has outweighed the positive impacts.
The US 2016 elections gave us a glimpse into how much of a role technology can play in dictating political outcomes. Subsequently, the Russian government’s interference has highlighted the influence that technology can have in politics. If bots like ChatGPT are used, it could mean serious trouble for political campaigns.
When AI researcher and author Pedro Domingos stated “The killer occupation for GPT-4 is politician, because the key qualification is to have no fear of lying (sic)”, it became clear just how concerning a situation this could be. In discussing the use of ChatGPT in Indian politics, Sagar Vishnoi, political analyst at The Ideaz Factory, asserted that the AI is being used for planning schedules, marketing plans and for writing political speeches by MPs, CMs and think-tanks. The AI is also being utilized by Netri Foundation, a political incubator, for content creation and research work.
Given the inaccuracies of ChatGPT, how trustworthily can it be relied upon to carry out a duty as important as speech writing and other political endeavors? Recently, ChatGPT falsely accused Brian Wood, Mayor of Hepburn Shire of having served a prison term as part of a foreign bribery scandal which was false. With the subjective variables in training an AI model, ChatGPT’s political bias could resurface in Indian politics should it find its way into the spotlight.
The Political Compass test conducted by research scientist David Rozado showed that ChatGPT leaned to the left with a strong libertarian leaning. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the bias in the system and the vulnerability of the 2021 elections in a March interview. With the 2020 elections witnessing social media companies banning President Donald Trump on grounds not legally proven, the media’s bias provides the ground work for a biased chatbot to come into play in the 2024 elections.
OpenAI made security and privacy announcement but failed to address the AI’s bias. This is why countries around the world are contemplating the need of strong policies that protect against the use of AI like ChatGPT. The Biden administration isof of the many to advocate for checks and balances on such tools to prevent the spread of discrimination and malicious information. To make sure that information generated by ChatGPT does not find its way into political campaigns, an extensive vetting process is needed.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altan’s mentioned in the interview that “elections are in our mind”. So, it is important to keep the misuse of AI tools away from elections and politics in general.
The Ideaz Factory, is an AI-focused technology firm, helping to create and deliver innovative products and services to their clients, leveraging the latest technologies to make data-driven decisions. They are connecting dots from technology trends, emerging research, innovation and data-driven intelligence solutions, aiming to promote sustainable growth in the society.
Pedro Domingos, an AI expert and author, is an associate professor at the University of Washington and the author of a book dedicated to the applications of machine learning and AI, “The Master Algorithm”. Pedro is an active player in the AI research community, researching topics such as reinforcement learning, natural language processing and evolutionary algorithms. He has also co-authored over 100 scientific publications, produced various software libraries and is an invited speaker at international conferences.
