AI Replacing Politicians? One City Is Actually Doing It And The Results Are Shocking
If AI technology can be used to replace your cashier at the grocery store, can it also be used to replace politicians? According to City Councilman Ramiro Rosário, this may very well be the case. The city of Porto Alegre, Brazil passed the first piece of legislation written by OpenAI’s ChatGPT this past November, and by the looks of it, using AI can very well make the lawmaking process infinitely more efficient if used correctly.
Rosário has reason to believe that AI could streamline the lawmaking process.
When tasked with drafting a constitutional bill proposal as a measure to prevent water companies from charging homeowners for water meters that were stolen from their property, Rosário turned to AI instead of his usual team of politicians. Instead of assembling a team of six lawmakers to write the legislation, a process that would take several days, ChatGPT was able to do all of the legwork in about 15 seconds.
Rosário stated that without the help of AI, politicians would have bickered over the legalese and minutia involved in drafting a piece of legislation. Citing countless arguments, coffee breaks, and clashing personalities as a source of frustration, Rosário has reason to believe that AI could streamline the lawmaking process.
If AI is being used to automate countless jobs in the private sector, then the same principle can be applied to the public sector by automating the jobs of politicians.
Not only was the bill approved by the City Council, but the generative AI chatbot actually provided its own insight into regulating the water companies, which was then approved by the reviewing politicians.
Though generative AI very much spits out content based on the prompts that are input, ChatGPT added a clause that Rosário hadn’t thought of himself. The clause suggested that residents whose water meters weren’t replaced within 30 days wouldn’t be charged for their services.
Rosário was absolutely stunned by how AI not only put together a solid document, but also considered an angle that may have been lost on a team of politicians.
Though this achievement is an amazing milestone that has the potential to change how governing bodies function, Rosário kept his use of AI secret because he wasn’t so sure politicians would sign off on something that wasn’t drafted by a human. But the document was so well-thought-out that not a single person involved had reason to believe that a new process was implemented this time around.
Instead of assembling a team of six lawmakers to write the legislation, a process that would take several days, ChatGPT was able to do all of the legwork in about 15 seconds.
Not everybody is thrilled about AI’s potential to replace politicians (especially politicians), however. Rosário suggests that his office has 20 or 30 public relations assistants that would no longer be needed if the use of AI were to be implemented on this level. But considering the results, it certainly sounds like bureaucratic processes could be streamlined in ways that were previously thought impossible.
In other words, if AI is being used to automate countless jobs in the private sector, then the same principle can be applied to the public sector by automating the jobs of politicians. Though it’s probably not advisable to make such a drastic change overnight, Rosário’s bill is a suitable proof of concept.
AI is more than capable of freeing up countless administrative hours that tax dollars are currently paying for, but this may not be a reality that politicians are yet willing to subscribe to.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
