Andrew Gray
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Feb 14, 2024
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Round 2:
Interviewer Observations
- Artem and Andrew discuss various topics, including use of AI bots, their involvement with Newspeak House and Polis (a platform for online discussions), their respective projects (Harmonica and Consensus Politics Limited), the importance of sense-making and collective intelligence in decision-making processes, moderation/facilitation techniques in online conversations, engaging participants in using platforms like Polis, the impact of anonymous participation on honesty and openness in discussions, the potential applications of AI in coordinating human collaboration or enhancing collective intelligence, challenges faced by independent political candidates using technology for campaigning purposes.
- Andrew expresses frustration with his unsuccessful attempts to sell policies related to survey tools. He believes that Polis is superior to platforms like SurveyMonkey and hopes for some unicorn to join his team. The conversation also touches on the importance of finding common ground in politics and addressing misconceptions perpetuated by media.
The UK has already seen its first - and maybe the world's first - AI-powered election candidate. Andrew Gray was roundly rejected by voters in July's Selby and Ainsty by-election, gaining just 99 votes. It was a bruising experience for the former lawyer, who stood as an independent candidate "powered by AI", with hopes of causing a political earthquake. But voters in the rural North Yorkshire constituency were not ready for such a "new fangled" concept, he says, and were often just confused by it. "When constituents messaged me, they often thought I was a bot." Mr Gray's campaign was based on Polis, an AI-powered tool that allows groups with widely different opinions to reach a consensus through votes and discussion.
Mr Gray used it to crowdsource a "people's manifesto" for Selby and Ainsty and planned to use it to consult constituents on which way to vote in the House of Commons. He remains a firm believer in the power of Polis to bridge political divides and bring people together but says it may be better suited to solving local controversies, rather than tackling major national issues at Westminster, at least for now. Mr Gray's not-for-profit organisation, Crowd Wisdom Project, has helped local councils, such as Wandsworth, in south London, which last year held a consultation on clean air, using Polis, to formulate policies.
Critics will say Polis and other AI-assisted decision-making programs being marketed to local authorities are still open to being manipulated to produce the results politicians want, like the bogus consultation exercises beloved by an earlier generation of leaders. But the sheer power of AI technology - and its ability to crunch vast quantities of data - promises to offer far deeper insights into what constituents and voters are thinking and feeling.
Notes
- Andrew mentioned going to Newspeak House for a police conference.
- Artem discussed using GPT to facilitate discussions and form collective intelligence.
- Artem mentioned using collaborative tools for sense-making and allocating funds.
- Andrew mentioned being interested in collective wisdom and crowd wisdom projects.
- Andrew mentioned wanting to interview an experienced policy user.
- Andrew discussed the concept of dialogue instead of fighting at Dinner Fight events.
- Andrew emphasized the importance of engagement and audience response.
- Artem and Andrew discussed the potential of anonymous platforms for people to freely express themselves.
- Andrew shared his experience of collecting data and creating a manifesto for a local area.
- Andrew mentioned setting up multiple conversations on various topics.
- Andrew outlined five rules for using an anonymous platform.
- Andrew discussed the benefits of allowing poorly written statements to encourage participation.
- Andrew highlighted the need for moderation and multiple perspectives in discussions.
- Artem asked about the challenges of engaging people in the conversation process.
- Andrew described his method of distributing leaflets to engage people.
- Andrew emphasized the importance of instinctive voting and quick responses.
- Artem mentioned a citizenship project in Iceland called All Your Ideas.
- Andrew Gray discussed the value of anonymous platforms for speaking up in organizations.
Outline
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Action Items
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Andrew expressed interest in learning more about Artem's project, Harmonica, and suggested scheduling another meeting to discuss it further.
Andrew offered his feedback and insights on the use of Polis as a sense-making tool and its potential applications in various domains, such as civic engagement, participatory democracy, and staff surveys.
Andrew mentioned the importance of moderation in Polis conversations and shared his experience in setting up and moderating Polis instances for political campaigns.
Andrew highlighted the value of anonymity in Polis conversations, allowing individuals who may not be comfortable expressing their views openly to participate and share their perspectives.
Andrew emphasized the need for engagement and the challenges of getting people to use Polis, especially in terms of promoting participation and reaching a broader audience.
Andrew discussed the importance of consensus-building and the potential of Polis to facilitate dialogue and collective intelligence, particularly in addressing complex issues.
Andrew shared his thoughts on other tools and projects related to citizen engagement, such as the Citizens' Assemblies in Iceland and the All Your Ideas tool, although he admitted to not having much knowledge about them.
Andrew expressed his willingness to assist and support Artem and his project, Harmonica, offering his expertise in legal matters and providing access to resources such as legal documents and precedents.
Overall, the main follow-up actions would be for Andrew and Artem to schedule another meeting to discuss Harmonica in more detail and explore potential collaboration, as well as for Andrew to provide any requested assistance and resources to support Harmonica's development.