Greetings from Terminal C at LGA. I'm heading to Boston this morning to keynote about AI at the NHL Club Business Meetings. This was such a great hockey season; I can't wait to see everyone.
In the news: Mark Matlock, the Reform UK candidate for Clapham and Brixton Hill, recently faced accusations of being an AI-generated bot. The specifics of this case are silly. Mr. Matlock overly-photoshopped one of his campaign ads and then fell victim to pneumonia. In the process, he sparked an epidemic of deepfake-itus, which sparked a debate about the authenticity of candidates in the generative era (he did not win the seat, BTW). Let's ask some more interesting questions. Could an AI run for office? If elected, could it serve?
I spent a few minutes researching what a Member of Parliament (MP) is supposed to do. Here are some of the duties: Legislative functions, such as debating and voting on legislation and introducing bills. Representation in the form of constituency work and advocacy. They are responsible for scrutiny and oversight, questioning government ministers, and doing committee work. They approve government spending, debate national and international issues, participate in All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), handle individual cases for constituents, and present petitions from their constituents to Parliament. They are also supposed to support party policies and are strongly encouraged to adhere to the instructions of party whips to vote in line with party decisions.
Reading this extensive (albeit incomplete) list, I don't think big AI is too far away from handling a lot of this work. I tried a little experiment with ChatGPT with the prompt, "You are acting as Mark Matlock, the Reform UK candidate for Parliament for Clapham and Brixton Hill, please tell me what you stand for, what legislation you hope to introduce and why I should vote for you." I also staged a debate in ChatGPT where I told it to act as Mark Matlock and debate an imaginary Conservative Party candidate. The results were amusing, but also stunning. Try it yourself. AI candidates may not be as far fetched as they sound.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
P.S. If you're wondering what current consumer-grade AI models are capable of, sign-up for our free online course. It's a short course that will jumpstart your AI journey.
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
