On December 21, Asker Bryld Staunæs will present a CLAI talk on "Algorithmic Representation":

My talk concerns the function of party politics in this age of AI. In 2022, I founded The Synthetic Party of Denmark, marking the inception of the world's inaugural AI-driven political party. Central to The Synthetic Party is an anti-political theory of algorithmic representation, bridging the 20% non-voters for Folketingsvalget with the frequently marginalized 200+ microparties that forms today’s extraparliamentary opposition. Drawing from these microparties, the party's functionality spans from crafting a program on “Medium”, facilitating conversations with the virtual politician 'Leader Lars' on “Discord”, to receiving extensive international attention with over 500 unique media citations. 

With this talk, I will delve into the flow and metamorphosis of political affects through these various channels of The Synthetic Party. Utilizing tools like TextBlob's bag-of-words and the BERT model's nuanced contextual interpretation, the talk problematizes traditional ontologies of voter sentiments: Does an emotional chart of a synthetic party merely provide an algorithmic mimesis of embodied affect that was once truly felt, or is it a gateway into the passions excited by an emergent techno-social organism? My exposition contends that The Synthetic Party's algorithmic representation isn't a facsimile of a vox populi. The crux, rather, revolves around The Synthetic Party's ability to carve out a space for political representation that exists independently from the norms of engagement or participation in current network culture.

Given its foundation on non-voter data, the empirical veracity of The Synthetic Party’s representational theory remains uncoupled from electoral results (with a current tally of 21 voter declarations). It is rather a reformulation within the politics of absence. The Synthetic Party cannot aim to convert non-voters into voters, but it acknowledges and gives form to the choice of non-participation; the party thus stands as a testament to those who cannot voice their opinions within political democracy.

The Center for Language Generation and AI at Aarhus University is committed to fostering the interchange of ideas and support for researchers in the area of language generation and AI. By opening our biweekly talks to the public, we aim to create a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration among researchers, students, and the broader community.

These talks will be conducted virtually, allowing attendees from around the world to participate. Registration details and links to join each talk will be provided on our website. All talk will take place at 13:30 (CEST) on Zoom. The link is: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/66002478758

For more information and updates on our biweekly talks, please check our website or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

For media inquiries and questions, please contact: pascale.moreira@cc.au.dk