Could AI rig the next general election?

Editor’s note: Below is an edition of AI Collision I wrote in October 2023. Yes, that long ago! It’s important because I raise the issue of AI influencing elections. Now as we get into full swing with our electoral coverage in the UK and what it means for you and your money we’re also going to be looking at how AI will play its role. That includes a look at what impact AI will have on the UK depending on who gets into power in a few weeks time. It’s a BIG deal, so to get you warmed up on what to expect from me…take a look at this prescient edition of AI Collision. 

PS If you enjoyed this article, remember that you can sign up for free to AI Collision and you’ll receive a double dose each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays straight to your inbox. Just click here to sign up for free on Substack.

Welcome to AI Collision 💥,

In today’s issue:

• ChatGPT squeezes me for another $24
• AI rigging elections?
• Motorola with the AI tech no one asked for

When ChatGPT was opened up publicly to the world in late November 2022, like most tech nerds, I jumped straight into it to test it out and see what the hype was about.

It was good.

But it wasn’t great.

In fact, for all the hype, ChatGPT had some substantial flaws that were hard to get past. I discovered this when I asked ChatGPT to write some essays for me.

In January of this year, in reference to ChatGPT and the essays it was able to produce at the time, I said to my paid subscribers,

You see, I actually got ChatGPT to assist me in writing an article. You can go and see that article (it’s still online for now) by heading here.

Back then, that’s about all ChatGPT was good for. It had knowledge limitations, up to September 2021, and wrote like you would expect a robot to write.

When ChatGPT upgraded to connect online via the GPT-4 upgrade large language model (LLM), I gave that a go too. I figured that improvement would be substantial now that the AI could browse online.

Except, to be honest, the experience and output were pretty crappy.

And I was giving it great prompts too, but through combinations of poor writing, poor analysis, slow searching and overall, just a very poor outcome, I gave it all up and cancelled my ChatGPT subscription.

In short, as good as ChatGPT and the GPT-4 were for some things, there was no danger to the creative arts, no danger to any of us that it was destined to steal our jobs and take over the world.

And the months ticked by…

There were upgrades and additions to ChatGPT, and people started talking about how GPT-4 was getting scarily better, very fast.

And then in the last week, OpenAI (the company that built and owns ChatGPT) let loose a whole bunch of upgrades.

These upgrades include the ability to upload documents for GPT-4 to analyse, to search and provide outputs from image uploads, and a much more thoughtful, human-like interaction through search and prompts.

So, I subscribed again for $24 a month. ChatGPT just picking my pocket for another $24 a month…

But geez, I tell you what, this thing has become an absolute monster!

The changes to GPT-4 in just the last few months is nothing short of astonishing.

I’m rarely lost for words at the speed at which technology improves. But in my life, I’ve never seen such a speed of improvement as I’ve seen with GPT-4.

Of course, there will be critics who say there are better LLMs out there. And maybe for very defined, specific tasks there are. But hand on heart, if you’re not now paying serious attention to how you’re going to use GPT-4 in your life, personally and professionally, then you need a hard slap to the face.

Let me put it more bluntly.

You need to start learning to use AI to your advantage.

It’s not going anywhere.

It is a threat to the way in which you know how to do things, but it isn’t necessarily a threat to your livelihood.

Though it will if you don’t keep up with its progress and start to use it.

To ignore it today is akin to ignoring the internet.

Ask yourself: how would you do if you had no idea how to use the internet today? If you couldn’t use email? If you couldn’t operate a smartphone?

Life would be tough.

Now add AI to that list. If you can’t use it or don’t know about it, then life will be tougher in the future – even though overall AI will make our lives better.

I’m giving you a task right now, do yourself a favour, go and look at it, even just the free version GPT-3 and start to get with the AI-program.

Shape up or ship out – AI style!

AI Gone Wild 🤪

The regulators are coming and it’s a playbook they know well…

Read what was published in the Telegraph on last Thursday, 26th October,

Then this from Oliver Dowden, Deputy Prime Minister, who was asked during an interview on Times Radio if he worried about the UK’s elections being vulnerable to AI,

Are you scared yet?

They want you to be.

Then this yesterday from President Biden and the White House administration in an executive order on “Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence”, directing the following actions:

And this:

This comes hot off the heels of the UK government’s announcements on AI last week. And it comes as the UK government issued its own form of an executive order, a discussion paper (so typically British, without the grandeur of the US administration) about the “Risks of AI”.

What does all this mean?

Let’s clear it up for you…

The government wants full control over AI power. It understands that if AI does reach the holy grail of artificial general intelligence (AGI), where it has consciousness, that it might quickly figure out that government is bloated, incompetent and, on the balance, unnecessary.

So, if there was anyone out there who should be worried about the risk that AI poses to their livelihood, maybe it’s the politicians who are now hellbent on controlling and regulating AI development.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about this from both sides of the pond and, in our view, it will be a regulate first, ask questions later approach.

Boomers & Busters 💰

AI and AI-related stocks moving and shaking up the markets this week. (All performance data below over the trailing week).

Boom 📈

• Quantgate Systems (NASDAQ:QGSI) up 20%
• WISeKey International (NASDAQ:WKEY) up 14%
• Guardforce AI (NASDAQ:GFAI) up 3%

Bust 📉

• DUOS Technologies (NASDAQ:DUOT) down 17%
• Oddity Tech (NASDAQ:ODD) down 13%
• Amesite (NASDAQ:AMST) down 10%

From the hive mind 🧠

• AI that mimics nature, thanks to NASA
• The AI in a device that we didn’t need
• Here come the regulators!
• Could AI create the next Apple?

Weirdest AI image of the day

Lost 80s kids special “Learning about death with Death” – r/Weirddalle

ChatGPT quote of the day