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She is quick, she is nimble, and has emerged as a star campaigner in an election for a US Congress seat. And Asia is the next market for Ashley, the artificial intelligence (AI) campaign tool.
Ashley debuted in December 2023 for Democrat Shamaine Daniels, who decided she needed more than flesh-and-blood volunteers to take on Mr Scott Perry, a pro-Trump Republican.
Mr Perry has represented Pennsylvania's 10th district in the United States House of Representatives for six terms.
The AI-powered two-way voice-calling product single-handedly does the work of a whole team of campaign workers.
"She" calls voters and answers questions about the campaign, helps recruit volunteers, gets donations, and channels feedback that can make campaign messaging more precise.
Through this sophisticated chatbot, Ms Daniels has reached thousands of voters in the month since its deployment.
The firm behind Ashley is San Francisco-based Civox, co-founded by Mr Ilya Mouzykantskii and Mr Adam Reis in May 2023.
"Civox gives my campaign the ability to do something that was previously all but impossible: have meaningful, interactive, two-way conversations with voters at scale," Ms Daniels said in a press statement after inducting Ashley into her campaign.
In an interview with The Straits Times from London, Mr Mouzykantskii said generative AI is about to turn the world of political campaigning upside down.
"We are crashing into the era of AI and politics," he said.
"I don't want to make bold predictions, but we intend to be a major part of it." While AI is commonly used for political texting in the US, Mr Mouzykantskii said Civox was the first company to offer AI voice with the ability to hold two-way conversations.
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