Brighton MP candidate AI Steve wants to 'reinvent democracy'

Steve Endacott is hoping to become Brighton Pavilion's next MP and is standing as AI Steve, a politician partnered with his AI avatar who constituents can talk to at all times of the day.

He says the technology could be the future of democracy and wants to get other parties on board with the concept. His party will also be targeting council seats in the future.

Steve, 59, said: “People think you’re mad at first but when you explain it they get the idea.

“We were going to go national but we expected the elections in November. We chose the seat I have a business in and one that believes in green policies.

A member of the public speaking to the AI Steve avatar outside Brighton's Palace Pier (Image: The Argus)

“Our next target is local council elections. Most people vote for a party, not a person and that is fundamentally wrong. We want to connect councillors to their voters.

“We would absolutely be considering running people in the next Brighton council elections.”

Steve, who is based in Rochdale but has run businesses in Brighton, is standing in the General Election for Brighton Pavilion under the SmarterUK banner.

The party collaborated with Neural Voices, a company which Mr Endacott has a stake in, to create an AI model which would allow voters to speak to an avatar in real time.

AI Steve's campaign poster (Image: AI Steve)

Introducing himself to voters in Brighton's Madeira Drive on Monday afternoon, he said that the AI model would give constituents greater access to their elected representatives.

He describes himself as being aligned with the Green Party politically, but that they have “too many daft policies”.

Steve described AI as a “massive danger to the human race” but added that when used effectively and safely would make politicians more accessible and accountable to the electorate.

Under the party’s models, constituents could speak to their MPs' avatars online, which would gather their opinions and help to form policies based on their views.

These policies would then be voted on to “weed out the silly ones”, and successful policies would then be put forward to Parliament.

The party’s policies so far include moving to a four-day working week, introducing more electric charging in car parks and opposing digital voting in elections.

In Brighton, Mr Endacott criticised the i360 – and his AI avatar said the party would support the restoration of Madeira Terrace.

AI Steve has caused a stir both nationally and internationally, sparking a debate about AI’s place in politics.

But Steve said the party would be willing to let other political parties across the world use the system to create their own avatars as they believe it would be beneficial to the political system.

Brighton Pavilion and voters across the country go to the polls on July 4. The constituency is expected to be a close two-way fight between Labour’s Tom Gray and the Green Party’s Sian Berry after Caroline Lucas announced she would be stepping down from the seat.