In an approach that is quite unusual and given an upcoming election, Bentley Hensel, an independent candidate and software engineer from Virginia’s 8th congressional district, invented AI chatbot DonBot to replace incumbent Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) during a debate on October 17. Such an approach has been informed by Beyer’s unwillingness to instantiate further discussions since September, though the elections are quite a contentious campaign.
Beyer obtained nearly 75% of the votes in the 2022 election and agreed to skip the next possible debate, which led to Hensel’s move. Hensel has built DonBot using an API from OpenAI to have it generate responses based on Beyer’s press releases and data from the Federal Election Commission. The AI is also programmed to express the views of Beyer without the desire to deceive the voters out of their votes.
“I contend that the voters of this district should be able to hear all candidates on the issues,” replied Hensel, holding it against Beyer that the latter shuns public meetings. While not approaching Beyer’s $1.5 million, Hensel has approximately $17,000 to spend. This endeavor is as much a tongue-in-cheek debate strategy as it is a way of making people sit up and take notice of what is otherwise a very conventional contest.
The next debate will be an Internet broadcast with independent candidates Hensel and David Kennedy against DonBot. If both Beyer and the Republican candidate Jerry Torres say no, Hensel intends to build an AI version of Torres to continue the debate tradition.
As much as the employment of AI in political communication is under debate with regard to its truthfulness and credibility, Hensel states that using DonBot is about unmasking instead of concealing. The AI has shown it can give clear answers, such as recognizing Beyer’s policies correctly, like gun control and women’s rights. For example, concerning gun violence, DonBot said, “We are beyond a crisis point with guns in America,” which shows that Beyer cares about this problem.
There has been much controversy around the use of artificial intelligence in political campaigns among lawyers. Most concur that Beyer might not have much choice but to let the AI debate happen if only Hensel is open about AI usage and the fact that it is not commercial. As a law professor at the University of Virginia, Danielle Citron said that current legislation on deep fakes in Virginia is quite limited and does not include this case.
As the focus on artificial intelligence evolves and with OpenAI’s latest $6.6 billion injection, discussions of disinformation and deepfake scandals continue in political realms. There is controversy even now regarding what constitutes articles when AI-generated content has already raised concerns, such as the recent image of Biden’s voice-generating robocalls.
Still, to Hensel’s mind, the debate is helping to ensure openness in an otherwise non-competitive campaign. “I am not an idiot, and I know what is going to happen in November.’ He pointed to the leads that Beyer has been enjoying in their poll surveys. “But I believe strongly in greater transparency.”
That is why this approach to campaigning is innovative, as modern political communication becomes more and more technology-dependent.
