A Toronto mayoral candidate is defending his campaign’s use of artificial intelligence, but experts in the emerging technology say while it could act as an equalizer for under-resourced teams, it’s no substitute for the human element of traditional voter persuasion.
Coun. Brad Bradford has come under criticism from other candidates after a National Observer story last week revealed his campaign is using an AI app to supply online talking points to supporters. The story also alleges the app rewards users for posting social media comments and sharing their phone contacts with his campaign.
On Monday, Bradford denied users of the app receive any rewards for posting AI-generated messages on behalf of his campaign.
“There’s no rewards, there’s no facetime, there’s nothing like that,” Bradford said. “We are using a campaign app, just like Olivia Chow’s campaign is using a campaign app, and what we’re doing is making sure that we’re connecting with voters.
