Have you ever wondered how much time politicians spend avoiding their jobs? Well, so has Dries Depoorter, a Belgian artist who created an AI purposefully designed to catch politicians who aren't paying attention to the problems they're supposed to be solving.
Dries Depoorter's Political AI
Reported by TheNextWeb, the novel AI monitors YouTube videos of government meetings to see which politicians pay the most attention. Using machine learning and facial recognition, the AI detects phones that are being used and the person using them during meetings.
The AI program isn’t perfect for its use. For example, the software only detects smartphones, not laptops or tablets. In one image shared by Depoorter, there are two politicians using tablets that aren't called out like phone users are. Furthermore, there's no knowing what percentage of phone use is continuing work outside of the meeting.
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Some people aren't happy
Once a politician gets flagged by the AI as being particularly inattentive, they'll be tweeted at to tell them to stay focused. While many see this as a harmless exercise, others have expressed their disdain for the program's use.
One user described the project as a “dystopia sh*tshow", arguing that most people don't stay completely attentive during meetings. However, most fought back against that idea as the role of a politician is to sit in meetings and help solve issues that arise in them.
Other users simply wished that the same program could be used on their politicians.
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