Campaign texts, powered by AI: How new tech is shaping voter outreach
Summary
Political campaigns are testing AI chatbots to hold text conversations with voters at a scale that staff and volunteers cannot match. The tools may help campaigns learn voters’ concerns, but research and experts cited in the article raise concerns about accuracy, privacy and the lack of rules requiring campaigns to disclose that a voter is speaking with AI.Key Facts
- Democrat Ace Parsi, who is challenging Republican Rep. Riley Moore in West Virginia, is using AI chatbots to text voters.
- Campaigns give vendors approved material, such as speeches, press releases and website content, to guide chatbot conversations.
- Vector Political says it has sent more than 3 million texts this election cycle, leading to more than 35,000 individual voter conversations.
- A study in Nature found that short conversations with AI chatbots shifted views in controlled experiments more than political ads typically did.
- A study in Science found that chatbots made less accurate claims when they pushed harder to persuade people.
- Campaigns can receive full transcripts of voters’ conversations, creating privacy concerns.
- The article says most states do not require campaigns to tell voters they are texting with AI.
- Campaign technology experts describe AI voter outreach as still experimental.
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