Artificial intelligence can’t hide from politics, or rather, politics can’t hide from AI.

In an unusual political move, Bentley Hensel, an independent candidate running for the United States Congress in Virginia’s 8th District, used an AI-powered bot to participate in a debate after incumbent Representative Don Beyer declined an invitation.

On Oct. 17, a debate was held between Hensel, another independent candidate, David Kennedy, and a virtual stand-in, “DonBot,” leading up to the November elections.

AI-powered debate

Hensel, a software engineer by trade, said he turned to AI as a response to what he described as Beyer’s unwillingness to engage in a public debate. 

The bot was given a crash course on Beyer’s policy views and trained to represent his policy positions by drawing on available data sources, including his publicly available statements, press releases and campaign material.

DonBot was initially built by Hensel using OpenAI’s technology. However, before the debate, Hensel said he migrated the bot to open-source models via Cloudflare Workers. OpenAI has banned Hensel’s account due to its political use.

AI-powered bot stands in for absent candidate in Virginia debate image 0

Source: Bentley Hensel

Hensel said that in the future, he plans to create a Donald Trump and Kamala Harris bot debate, “where anyone can ask both candidates their opinion(s) on any issue.”

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The debate between the independent Virginia congressional candidates was streamed online and had multiple hiccups, including the DonBot not being audible during some answers. 

Supporting AI regulation

Both Hensel and the AI-represented Beyer have been vocal about their views on technology and innovation — a trend among politicians up for election. 

Hensel’s campaign website highlights his goal to bring “technological innovation and transparency to the federal government” to make it more effective for all citizens.

During his time in office, Beyer has already proposed legislation to regulate AI security for risk incident mitigation. In his proposal, he urged Congress to establish clear boundaries around its deployment, particularly in political and governance spheres.

With the 2024 US election approaching, candidates are under pressure to take positions on tech-related issues, including cryptocurrencies, blockchain and AI.

These positions are being closely watched by both Big Tech and political action committees, which have gained influence over the past year.

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