OpenAI made its first move against the use of its artificial intelligence technology in political campaigns on Friday, when it banned the developer of a bot supporting Democratic presidential candidateDean Phillips. Dean.Bot, the result of a contract between the artificial intelligence startup Dephi and the Silicon Valley super PAC supporting Phillips, used OpenAI’s ChatGPT software to impersonate the candidate and talk with voters in real time. We Deserve Better, the super PAC that backed the bot, defended its use of the controversial software on the grounds that it could help voters engage with a candidate and teach them more about that candidate’s platform. Researchers told The Washington Post that even with disclaimers, as were included with Dean.Bot, the technology could significantly harm elections. The bot must now rely on other, similar open-source technologies to replace what ChatGPT had initially provided.
