12mo ago

Congressman Refuses to Debate, so His Opponent Is Using an AI Stand-In

"Sitting congressman Don Beyer won’t bother debating Bentley Hensel, a long-shot independent candidate, so Hensel made an AI version of Beyer to debate instead."

11 comments

This seems very not cool.
- It's a little cool as long as all the AI does is play a different fart noise on every cue.
- Just imagine what happens when he loses to the chatbot
Once Christopher Hitchens' debate partner refused to show up for a debate about religion, so he literally debated for both sides. It was amazing. I've looked for it again on YouTube for years but I haven't been able to find it.
Anyway, that's a lot more creative.
- Not sure this is what you're talking about: Hitchens debates himself
  
  I might just be completely misremembering it, but the video I remember was an actual debate where his opponent didn't show up and he kept saying, "if my opponent were here, he would say..."
Couldn't you just find a journalist who agrees to give you a tough interview? I guess that doesn't grab headlines like AI does
- I think the point is to highlight that the other person is refusing to participate in the process of democracy. He's giving his opponent the choice to actually show up, or he can be represented by a characature. It's up to him. Don't like it? Then don't say "you're beneath me and I won't even acknowledge your existence". Takes two to tango.
Happened the same in Uruguay presidential elections this same week
Reminds me of that time Gary Johnson debated "Barack Obama".
Just get a mannequin and dress it like a clown and debate that.

11 comments