Podcast

The podcast hosts discuss the topic of artificial intelligence in politics. They mention examples of AI being used in the 2016 US presidential election and how it affected voter turnout. They also talk about AI's impact on the criminal justice system and privacy rights. The hosts mention two different perspectives on AI in politics: the Social Framing Party, which believes AI is a threat to society, and the Technical Framing Party, which believes AI can eliminate biases. They discuss the benefits of AI in politics, such as its ability to gather and remember citizens' opinions. However, they also mention that AI can have its own biases and can shape human perspective. They express conflicting opinions on whether AI should be in government. The episode ends with an invitation for listeners to share their thoughts on the matter. Good morning, Pauly fans, what a beautiful sunny Saturday to discuss some politics. Boy, do we have a story for you. That's right, today's episode is all about artificial intelligence. Hopefully by the end of this, I'll do a good enough job to believe that I'm human, but Lord knows I could use an update. Thank you, guys. Ladies, gentlemen, and any eavesdropping AI, welcome to another episode of... Questionable Politics! Exit tall of him. Ladies, gentlemen, and any eavesdropping AI, welcome to another episode of... Questionable Politics! I'm your host, Addison. And I'm also your host, Yas. All right, let's just address the elves in our room. Artificial intelligence, should there be regulations, and where should it be permitted? Well, I'll tell you one thing. Politics and artificial intelligence do not mix. Is that so? You sound pretty biased there. Well, I mean, how could you not be cautious about robot technology integrating into your government? You do have a point, but I'm sure that there are some benefits. There are, but before we look at the bright side, let me remind you of some history and facts. I'm sure we all remember the famous 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Definitely one for the books. And do you remember the scandal about Trump using AI? Trump used AI? Mm-hmm. Even Channel 4 News revealed that AI was used to separate key states during the election by using Taylor's Facebook. Okay, go. Mm-hmm. Even Channel 4 News revealed that AI was used to separate key states during the election by using Taylor's Facebook ads. Oh, that's right. They used negative ads to deter certain groups, specifically African Americans, from going to the polls to skew Clinton's votes. Wait, but didn't Hillary win the popularity vote? She did. However, for the first time in 20 years, there was a decrease in African American voters. I remember now. Trump harvested data from millions of Americans without their consent and used this against them in his favor. I remember now. Trump harvested data from millions of Americans without their consent and used that against them in his favor. Yeah, and do you remember when Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the United States House of Representatives, got her speech altered by digital intelligence to make her sound inebriated? They did that just to discredit her standing. Gosh, no wonder you dislike AI so much. It doesn't just affect elections. It is also affecting our criminal justice system in court. Criminal records can be distorted by digital intelligence software through the use of racially biased data. And, I mean, think about your iPhone. To even access the iPhone, you need to use your face ID, and a lot of your app calls are required with face ID. Use of facial ID surveillance is just an opportunity for state agencies to enforce authoritarianism. And, I mean, think about your iPhone. To even access the iPhone, you need to use your face ID, and a lot of your app calls are required with face ID. Use of facial ID surveillance is just an opportunity for state agencies to enforce authoritarianism. Doesn't that constitute a violation of our rights to privacy? In my opinion, this is a threat to American democracy. I think I'm starting to understand why you think AI should just stay out of politics. Yeah, I would consider myself a member of the social framing groups. What's that? Well, it's essentially where all of my previous facts were sourced from and the reasoning behind my biases. Social framing is the party that believes power should be balanced and on social context, not artificial intelligence. They also believe that AI is a bias made of influence on politics and is a threat to our society. The complete opposite of technical framing parties. So I'm assuming technical framing parties are pro-artificial intelligence? Nail on the head. Technical framing parties believe that AI can eliminate any biases in politics because it has no human preconceptions. I see now. You got your bias from the social framing party. Have you at least done some research on technical framing party? Can't knock something until you try it. Well, I guess not. It also just doesn't come up in my technological feed often. Oh my gosh, I'm the victim of AI biased political representation. That also means that you haven't seen enough to understand the technical framing party. Before you start pointing fingers, let's just look at some of the benefits. I just read about the technical framing party and I gotta say, that makes some sense. Remind me. Well, let's start off with, do you ever think that you would vote for an AI? No, I do not. It has some perks if you think about it. Like robots taking over the world? Well, an AI cannot be killed. The AI would never be sick or under threat of assassination. It would also never sleep, need to eat, or need to take a break whatsoever. I never thought of that. Yeah, and the AI would be able to take in much more of the citizens' opinions at once. Well, a human can only take in so much information as being told with the expectation that they won't remember it all. AI can know all the citizens' opinions and votes and never forget any of them. It could then use the information to form its legislation or political insight. Has this ever happened before? Well, in 2018, Elisa was nominated for president of Russia. Was she an AI? Elisa was a virtual reality assistant made by Yandex. She was very popular in Russia and over 25,000 people nominated her. Her campaign slogan was, The President Who Knows You Best. That's kind of creepy. Very creepy. However, in office, she would base all her knowledge on facts and not emotions. I could see the benefits in having someone in office who acted on what the people wanted and not just what their political party wanted. They also wouldn't be worried about or have any stake in being re-elected like many candidates today. Yes, it creates a completely unbiased approach to politics. Well... What? AI isn't always unbiased. Really? How could it be biased? It's just code. No, AI actually has a pretty strong left-leaning bias. How is it even possible? Well, there was a study done on ChatGBT and 14 out of 15 political compass tests told us that the both answers were left-leaning. That's crazy. Yeah, and do you remember the political compass test we had to do for class? Well, ChatGBT took that exact quiz and its results were 98% Democrat, 97% Green, 95% Women Equality, and 94% Social. Wow, so information that people are getting on politics may be biased? Where does the information used come from? Well, bots like ChatGBT gather your information from the internet, unlike news sources, social media, and university outlets. These types of sources have been proven to be more left-leaning. So, ChatGBT isn't producing its own opinions but restating different other sources' opinions. That makes sense. It's pretty dangerous that AI has the ability to shake human perspective. It is a definite double-edged sword debate. Now that I've heard both sides, I am even more conflicted about the matter. Yeah, it's definitely a difficult subject to debate. Both sides do make valid points. I think I am still leaning towards the Social Framing Party though, because some biased AI does exist and this is a threat to our government. I think I am leaning towards the Technical Framing Party. Sure, there are risks, but AI is an efficient resource that should be used in politics. I agree to disagree. Well, this about wraps up today's episode. Do you think AI should be in the government? Call 1-800-588-2100 and let us know what you think. Thank you everyone for listening to Questionable Politics.