The March 4, 2024, Chronicle article “Washington Secretary of State’s misinformation program flags factual stories on noncitizens voting” piqued my interest. I read the article with some concern and trepidation. The one illegal alien voting 28 times is a bit of worry, and the possibility of non-citizens registering to vote in our elections needs a closer look, but those concerns are not what bothers me.
I am far from a Luddite; innovation and technology are the engines propelling us into the foreseeable future. On the other hand, using U.K.-based artificial intelligence (AI) to search your social media for harmful narratives regarding our state elections and voting begs several questions. Was a U.K. AI company used to circumvent privacy regulations? Is our secretary of state attempting to shape our voting preferences or help quash misinformation/gaslighting? Who decides what misinformation is? And, of course, the biggie: Will the government use AI-generated data to punish anyone opposing government policies like motor-voter registration without confirming citizenship?
Even though the AI’s search criteria were specified by our own secretary of state’s office, two significant facts were identified as misinformation. What else was identified as misinformation? A report on the AI’s findings would be educational, and since we spent tax dollars — about $140,000 — for the information, I believe the secretary of state should publish all AI search criteria and all data generated before the November election.
I hope our local newspaper The Chronicle is not the only media to run this AI story. And I hope I am not the only one concerned about government snooping on our personal communications and very possible violations of our First Amendment constitutional rights.
AI is here to stay and will become influential and even creative in the not-so-distant future. With that firmly recognized, any future government usage of AI must be open and above board and search criteria and data compiled immediately reported to the public. This will go a long way toward trusting our government.
Gregory Riplinger
Centralia
