Upstart Democratic presidential candidate Jason Palmer credited artificial intelligence for his surprising victory over Joe Biden in the American Samoa primary. The shocking upset added to the incumbent’s shaky record as he moved toward his party’s nomination.
The unknown took 51 votes to the president’s 40 in the small island on Super Tuesday. He said his victory was “in part because I’m very adept at technology.”
Palmer believes his utilization of an AI campaign tool propelled his win. The Maryland businessman never even visited the island but used his program to garner 11 more votes than the president.
Jason Palmer, the obscure presidential candidate who beat President Biden in American Samoa this week, says AI played a big role in his campaign strategy: “I believe I won in part because I'm very adept at technology.” https://t.co/iyuLCdpvR4 via @WSJ
— Jason Palmer (@educationpalmer) March 15, 2024
The candidate told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that what he calls PalmerAI greatly assisted in drawing voters to his campaign. He took the vote in the South Pacific island despite having a staff of only five.
Palmer said he conducted virtual meetings with residents and engaged them through his AI program.
PalmerAI cost him $25,000 to set up. He worked with California software company Conversica to create the chatbot that has currently connected with 44,000 voters across the country.
The AI utilizes Palmer’s voice and facial features to address voters on the issues. It is limited by its program to only discuss “his policies, things he has stated publicly, his professional history or topics related to his campaign and the presidential election.”
When tech experts at the Mashable outlet tested the AI, they found it remarkably adept at answering a wide array of questions posed to the candidate.
He was asked to respond on such pervasive topics as the Israeli war on Hamas terrorists, the Palestine question, abortion and inequality. The AI provided answers and political stands on each.
It was not so forthcoming on other topics, including adult entertainment and the question of “waffles or pancakes.”
Palmer wonders what his campaign would have accomplished if he had millions of dollars to spend in U.S. states. He invested $500,000 of his own funds into his campaign.
The question of AI’s applications during campaigns is still quite new. The FCC in January banned AI robocalls after a deepfake attempting to sound like Biden told New Hampshire voters to skip the primary.
