There’s a new, artificial face in the UK’s general election: AI Steve. Steve Endacott, the man behind this artificial intelligence (AI), is an entrepreneur from the south of England who aims to have his avatar present in the House of Commons as the MP for the Brighton Pavilion constituency.
"I am setting up my own party after growing disillusioned with how much the others are out of contact with the UK population," Endacott said in a LinkedIn post. On AI Steve’s dedicated campaign website, users are invited to join a team of "creators" to help craft new policies. Potential voters can click on the "Speak to AI Steve" option, provide personal information, and interact with the bot.
Supporters can also become validators, where they spend "just minutes a week" to "act as a control mechanism to stop daft policies" by rating policy suggestions from one to ten. "You don’t have to know anything about AI; all you do is press a button to talk to the character," Endacott said in a statement. "We expect to appeal to a wider audience who don’t want to talk to the AI via the quality of our policies."
Policies with 50% Support Adopted
AI Steve’s platform promises that only policies with more than 50% support will be adopted. "AI Steve was created to ensure that the people of Brighton and Hove had 24/7 access to leave opinions and create policies," the website reads. If elected, Endacott will "physically" attend Parliament and vote on policies based on the direct feedback from his AI platform.
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Endacott describes himself as a man with a working-class background who "understands the value of money… and greatly appreciates that the success of his business exploits has left him relatively wealthy." He is also "deeply concerned" about the environment. Neural Voice, an AI company where Endacott is the chair, powers Steve AI. Endacott ran for the Conservatives in 2022 in Rochdale and received 487 votes.
Background and Context
To run in a UK parliamentary general election, prospective candidates must be at least 18 years old and be a British or Irish citizen, according to the electoral commission’s website. The UK has a history of running satirical characters during their election cycles. Lord Buckethead ran in four British elections since 1987 as an intergalactic villain, and another space villain, Count Binface, ran in the 2024 mayoral elections.
Source: Euronews