British MP Unveils AI Clone to Handle Constituents, Faces Immediate Backlash for ‘Lazy’ Representation

The decision of a British legislator to launch a version of AI of itself to interact with voters triggered the counterposter and the controversy on the role of technology in the government.

THE Washington Post Reports that when Mark Sewards, a newly elected member of the British Parliament, found himself overwhelmed with more than 6,000 messages in his first three months, he realized that he could not follow. Deciding that it was impossible for a person to respond to each constituent, Sewards turned to technology for a solution: he created an artificial intelligence clone of himself.

Tuesday, Sewards presented “Ai Mark”, a chatbot designed to communicate with the inhabitants of Leeds South West and Morley, the district he represents. Promoting the tool on social networks, Sewards encouraged residents to “try the AI brand”, arguing that kissing the AI revolution is necessary to avoid being left behind.

The move, however, met Swift Backlash. Critics of social media have inflicted sewards with complaints, accusing it of becoming even more inaccessible. A commentator argued: “In fact, this makes you even more inaccessible to your voters than you already are.” Another called it “a horrible, lazy and ecologically irresponsible idea”, referring to the environmental impact of large -scale AI operations.

Despite criticism, the creators of AI Mark insist that the chatbot is supposed to improve access, not limit it. Jeremy Smith, CEO and co -founder of Neural Voice – the company that built AI – said the objective was to “give access to [Sewards’] Bureau with masses and to make it more accessible to voters ”, noting the limited hours of a day for one person.

Ai Mark, who imitates the voice of Sewards and the Yorkshire accent, is scheduled to help information and facilitate communication, but not to replace direct commitment. The Chatbot welcomes users with: “Hi, I am a Mark Sewards, Labor MP for Leeds South West and Morley. How can I help you today? ” However, he has certain limits. Asked about the most important questions for voters, AI admitted: “I do not have this information in my knowledge base.” On political issues, his answers tended to be careful or generic, echoing the kind of coverage often observed in human politicians.