According to the virtual candidate, only policies benefiting from the support of the majority of the population will be integrated into his program.
It is a new face that has appeared in the British political landscape, in the run-up to the general elections in the United Kingdom. A seemingly banal situation, except for this: we will not be able to come across Steve – or rather “AI Steve” – in the countryside, since this face is that of an avatar, generated by Artificial Intelligence.
Steve Endacott, on the other hand, does exist, since he is the man behind this initiative. A real-life entrepreneur from the south of England who wants his avatar to represent the Brighton Pavillion constituency in the House of Commons.
“I am creating my own party, after becoming disillusioned by the lack of contact of other parties with the British population,” explains Mr. Endacott in a message published on LinkedIn. “I will try to use technology to connect directly with the opinions of my constituents.”
On AI Steve’s campaign site, users are asked if they would like to join a team of “creators”, who will help him develop new policies.
To do this, potential voters must click on the “Talk to AI Steve” option, then fill out personal information before interacting with the bot.
Contributors can also become validators, who Steve asks to “dedicate a few minutes a week” to “serve as a control mechanism to stop stupid policies,” assigning a rating from one to ten to each policy proposal.
“There is no need to know anything about AI, as all you have to do is press a button and the character will speak,” Endacott said in a statement.
“We hope to attract a wider audience through the quality of our policies.”
Policies based on majority support
Steve AI claims that only policies with support from more than 50% of voters will be adopted within his platform, we can read on his site.
“AI Steve was created to give the people of Brighton and Hove 24/7 access to opinions and policies,” reads its website.
If Mr Endacott is elected, he will “physically” attend sessions of Parliament, where he will vote on policies based on direct feedback received on his AI platform.
The entrepreneur describes himself as a man from the working class who “understands the value of money (…) and greatly appreciates that the success of his business achievements has made him relatively wealthy.”
He is also “deeply concerned” about the environment.
Neural Voice, the AI company led by Mr. Endacott, is behind Steve AI.
The British entrepreneur ran under the Conservative banner in 2022 in the Rochdale constituency, and won 487 votes.
Candidates running for legislative elections in the United Kingdom must be at least 18 years old and have British or Irish citizenship, according to the Electoral Commission website.
Across the Channel, general elections have several times given rise to comical sequences, notably when Lord Buckethead ran in British elections four times since 1987, as an intergalactic troublemaker. Count Binface, also under the banner of satire, had submitted his candidacy for the last municipal elections in the guise of a politician, literally, “with the head of a trash can”.