AI, Politics, Ethics and a bit of Plato

Join Peter Loge, a political veteran and director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication as he discusses how AI is being used in political campaigns today, and how it might be used in the future. Loge will highlight that American politics has been full of half-truths and fabrications from the beginning – including Ben Franklin making up fake news to promote the Revolution, the Hudson River School painters creating “composite” scenes of the American West, William Randolph Hearst reportedly telling an illustrator “You furnish the pictures. I’ll furnish the war,” and beyond. Peter will suggest that AI and all that has come before it gets to a question Plato raised about the connection between persuasion, ethics and truth – a question we have never really answered.

Peter Loge is an associate professor and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University, the director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication and a senior fellow at the Agirre Lehendakaria Center in Bilbao. Over his 30+ year career, Peter has served in senior staff positions in the US House, Senate and administration. Over that time, he has also advised, led and helped lead a range of national and international advocacy campaigns and organizations. Peter lectures on political communication and ethics around the US and in the Basque Country and is regularly quoted in national and international media.