Wannabe politician Andrew Gray has a unique approach to developing his political manifesto: he plans to use artificial intelligence (AI). Gray, who is running to become the new Member of Parliament for Selby and Ainsty in the UK, aims to tap into machine learning to assess public opinion and determine his policies accordingly.
In a LinkedIn post, Gray wrote, If elected, I will vote in Parliament in accordance with the consensus. Simple. To achieve this, he is utilizing a tool called Polis, which collects and analyzes real-time public opinion. The software gained prominence in Taiwan, where it powered a platform for political debate known as vTaiwan. The project allowed citizens and the government to collaborate on legislation.
Gray is not the first to employ Polis for political purposes. The software has been used by public authorities in the US, Canada, Singapore, and, more recently, by Gray himself. As a lawyer and the leader of the non-profit Crowd Wisdom Project, Gray has utilized Polis to crowdsource solutions to contentious issues.
According to Gray, there are numerous areas where people generally agree, and he hopes to identify these consensus points and adopt them as his policies. He has already started running Polis across Selby and Ainsty, where he is running as an independent candidate in a by-election scheduled for July 20. The vacancy arose when Conservative incumbent Nigel Adams resigned as an MP to join Boris Johnson, his close ally.
Interestingly, Gray has previously shown political allegiance to different parties, including the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats. In light of this, his move towards AI-powered lawmaking seems like a logical progression.
Polis operates by gathering views on posed statements and allowing constituents to propose additional ideas, which can then be voted on anonymously. The tool has already demonstrated its capabilities, as Gray deployed it in neighboring Harrogate on topics such as town center development and reducing the default speed limit to 20mph. Although these issues initially divided opinions, consensuses were easily found through Polis. Unfortunately, the local council did not give much attention to these consensuses.
While governance experts have praised the tool in limited settings, it may be less effective in older, larger, and more complex democracies. Nevertheless, given Selby and Ainsty’s manageable size and Gray’s confidence in Polis, it presents a promising testbed for this innovative approach. However, concerns related to transparency, biases, privacy, and accountability surrounding AI are likely to arise in the realm of politics.
Gray aims to disrupt traditional party politics with Polis, advocating for more democracy and power to be placed in the hands of his constituents. He is committed to voting for or against the government based on the consensus identified through AI, ensuring a more representative approach. If elected, Gray believes that Selby and Ainsty could become a bellwether constituency for the country.
