AI sentiment crosses party lines
Ahead of the midterms, politicians seek AI policies that resonate with voters
It was once an open question whether AI would play a significant role in politics. Today, it’s mostly a question of just how big an issue it will be. On both sides of the American political divide, those running for office are trying AI policies on for size.
The Washington Post analyzed over 1,300 Ballotpedia candidate profiles and campaign websites, finding bipartisan emphasis on datacenter crackdowns, China-hawk rhetoric, and job concerns.
Neither party has taken a clear and united stance on AI policy, but some differences still seemed evident in the data. Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to oppose datacenters, and Republicans were far more likely to bring up competition with China.
Still, that’s far more shared interest than we usually see on political issues. The governors of New York and Texas have both come out against datacenters, and Axios points out that the agreement runs fairly broad: datacenter opposition has united progressives and liberal Democrats with MAGA and Tea Party members concerned about rising bills. Similarly, progressives have found common ground with libertarians who seek to crack down on AI-enabled surveillance.
Amid all this, POLITICO reports that members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party paid a bipartisan visit to the Vatican, meeting briefly with Pope Leo XIV. While it’s not clear whether the question of deescalating the AI race arose on this visit, we know that this and many other AI-related questions have been on the Pope’s mind since the writing of his May encyclical.
Cynically, I suspect policymakers sought pleasant words and associations more than sound policy; the reported topics of “dignity and equality” are easy virtues to praise, but hard ones to operationalize. I am nonetheless heartened by our lawmakers meeting with an institution that’s supported global cooperation since the early Cold War, and with a Pope who has called for “a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating.”
More optimistically, I think policymakers are uncertain. They have noticed their voters dislike AI, but they haven’t yet figured out how to convert the apparent groundswell of distaste into votes. Incumbents are worried about their seats, and challengers sense an opportunity to stake out a popular position and eke out a win. Polling and trial balloons are a natural consequence of this uncertainty.
In sum, politicians are struggling to figure out what AI policies will get them elected. If you live in the U.S., now is an excellent time to tell them.
The analyses and opinions expressed on AI StopWatch reflect the views of the individual contributors and the sources they cover, and should not be taken as official positions of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.