Republican candidate uses AI chatbot to campaign

The chatbot was launched on July 5. It listens to users’ questions about Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and links them to a video that answers them.

The chatbot introduced itself: “Hello. I am AI Francis Suarez. You may have heard that my namesake, the conservative mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, is running for president. I will answer your questions about Mayor Suarez’s agenda of economic prosperity, cutting spending, and supporting our police.”

This chatbot is powered by VideoAsk, a product created by software company Typeform. According to VideoAsk’s website, customers can create “video funnels” that take visitors down different paths depending on the question they ask.

The chatbot did not appear to answer users' actual questions, but instead directed them to the topic video within Mr. Suarez's platform.

One example is when asked about candidate Suarez’s immigration plans, the chatbot began playing a 55-second video about “Mayor Suarez’s Miami Model” that revolved around various topics including “economic prosperity in Miami,” unemployment, job creation, homicide rates, and homelessness.

Some questions confuse the chatbot, resulting in a “Sorry, I don’t understand…” screen.

The AP news agency (USA) said this is proof of the application of generative AI tools in the election campaign for the 2024 White House race.

In June, the campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another Republican candidate, released an AI-generated social media video showing former President Donald Trump hugging infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

And in April, the Republican National Committee released an entirely AI-generated ad that depicted a future scenario if President Joe Biden were re-elected.

AI tools have improved dramatically in recent years, making it faster, cheaper, and easier to create images, videos, or blocks of text. But experts warn that they can also be used to create harmful misinformation aimed at influencing elections.

Some scenarios in which AI has been used for malicious purposes in elections include using a candidate’s voice to direct voters to vote on the wrong day, creating fake audio recordings of candidates confessing to crimes or expressing racist views, “editing” videos of a certain character giving a speech or interview, fake images designed to look like press photos, false claims that a candidate has dropped out of the race, etc.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper