An AI-powered candidate would be something different, which voters worldwide crave.
Newcastle technology company Uptivity wanted to field an AI politician in the British general election, but the Electoral Commission denied its application.
R&D manager Ash Nehmet explains,
‘I listen to political interviews on the radio, and I just zone out. I don’t hear anything inspiring, just meaningless sentences when I want honest solutions. Being a technology company, I wondered how artificial intelligence (AI) might help.’
Ash continues, ‘I think we could create an AI member of parliament, with the perspective of the constituency’s average person. In parliament, our politician Justin Sell would table meaningful, pointed questions, reflecting the views of the man-in-the-street. For women, Justin could become Justine by using data from women. Justin would be available to constituents 24/7 whilst also being in parliament, be completely selfless and not claim any expenses. We could have a winner. It might even get to be PM one day. That is why we’ve been denied; they know we would probably do a better job!’
Why is this politician called Justin Sell, and would he look like a robot?
Ash says, ‘Justin Sell is just a play on JustSell, our B2B ecommerce platform. And the name could become Justine when it became a woman. As for how he would look like. Initially, he would be a head, seen and heard on an iPad. Later, we would use his MP salary to create a humanoid. We want to bring a further development of AI, which we’re calling AEI (Artificial Emotional Intelligence), so embedding it with feelings. Then, he could feel and express sadness, hurt, happiness and anger. For those who know Star Trek, Justin Sell v2 would be less Mr Spock and more Captain Kirk!’
So what’s next for Uptivity?
Ash answers, ‘I’m disappointed with the election commission, but we’ll concentrate on developing what we call, Applied AI (AAI), which is real-world, everyday applications of AI, often paired with sensors and hardware. Initially, it will be with our MaintanPad application and JustSell, but who knows what we might do in the future. Sometimes, my mind turns to time travel, but that might be too difficult just yet!’
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Contact details:
Ash Nehmet, a.nehmet@uptivity.co.uk
G15, Biz Space, Amber Court, Newcastle Business Park, William Armstrong Road, Ne4 7YA, UK
