New AI Platform Enables Virtual Conversations with UK Parliamentarians
A novel artificial intelligence platform called Nostrada has been developed that allows users to engage in simulated conversations with digital replicas of all 650 UK Members of Parliament.
Created by Leon Emirali, a former Tory ministerial chief of staff who worked with Steve Barclay, this innovative tool generates ‘digital twins’ of politicians that are programmed to mimic their policy positions and characteristic speaking styles.
The platform is designed to serve various stakeholders including diplomats, lobbyists, and ordinary citizens who wish to understand where specific MPs stand on particular issues, as well as how they compare to their parliamentary colleagues.
‘Politicians make excellent data subjects because they’re constantly expressing opinions,’ Emirali explained. ‘When developing an AI product, the quality of your output directly correlates with the quality of your input data.’
However, questions remain about how accurately these AI models represent the actual politicians. When The Guardian asked each cabinet member’s digital twin who should succeed Keir Starmer as prime minister, most declined to answer, though Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s AI counterpart nominated himself.
These AI models are constructed using the extensive collection of politicians’ public statements and writings available online. Importantly, the models have fixed viewpoints and cannot be influenced by user interactions – they don’t learn from conversations.
Emirali traces the concept back to 2017, when he unsuccessfully pitched the Conservative Party on creating a chatbot version of then-Prime Minister Theresa May to provide concise, conversational summaries of key policy positions.
The platform has already attracted notable users, including someone with a Cabinet Office email address and users from two foreign embassies, potentially researching the prime minister and cabinet. Several prominent lobbying and marketing agencies have also utilized the software in recent months.
Despite Nostrada’s potential applications, Emirali acknowledges potential risks, particularly that it could mislead voters who rely exclusively on it for political information.
‘Politics contains nuances that AI might miss, making it unwise for voters to depend solely on this tool,’ he cautioned. ‘While it can be valuable for those well-versed in politics, I wouldn’t want it to inappropriately influence voting decisions for those less politically engaged.’
