Artificial Intelligence (AI) has entered the political arena in Telangana with the Election Commission (EC) accepting the nomination of 36-year-old startup founder Siddhartha Chakravarthy. Chakravarthy has developed AI for campaigning and has entered the poll fray from the high-stakes Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency. Moreover, he aims to create awareness about his product during campaigning. “A simple interactive chatbot for politicians can create a more active engagement beyond merely a poster or an advertisement, empower voters with the right information, and understand the electorate’s concerns with regard to the constituency,” Chakravarthy said. The startup founder is one among 20 candidates in the fray from Jubilee Hills, and is pitted against heavyweights like Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) two-time MLA, Maganti Gopinath, and former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin of the Congress. The election is likely to be a close affair, with the BJP fielding Lankala Deepak Reddy and AIMIM sitting Shaikpet corporator Mohammed Rashed Farazuddin also in the fray. With his campaign, Chakravarthy says, he aims to showcase how technology can leverage political campaigns and create a level playing field for novices like him. At present, AI is extensively used in sectors like customer care, healthcare and the F&B industry. However, the 36-year-old claims its use-case in politics will be transformative. “AI has generated interest across the world. We came up with the idea of using it to reshape political campaigning. An AI assistant or a candidate’s AI avatar can be used to interact with lakhs of voters simultaneously,” Chakravarthy said. The AI tool developed by Chakravarthy and his team can be used to have tailored conversations about the achievements, vision and promises of the candidate. Information about the candidate, election affidavit can be put out in the public domain using the tool thus enabling the voter to make an informed choice. Chakravarthy’s team began work on the product about eight months ago and has approached political parties and leaders. “While some leaders were keen to use it, a few others did not understand the value AI brings to the table. There is a fear of change among politicians. Hence, I decided to contest and showcase the use of AI in politics,” he says. Through a QR code, voters viewing the digital advertisements will be able to start a WhatApp conversation, which is currently available only in English. However, the team is working on making it available in Hindi and other regional languages. The next step for the team is to develop AI-enabled phone conversations. Chakravarthy believes the model which is tailored for a candidate can be trained in two weeks. The startup founder, unlike other candidates, will not hit the road for campaign. “We will go for digital advertisements and engage with the community through Facebook and WhatsApp groups to show how effective our tool is,” Chakravarthy said. Telangana goes to polls on November 30. A total of 2,898 candidates from 119 Assembly constituencies are in the fray after scrutiny and rejection of nominations.
