By: Ali Talib (Program Manager at HGL) and Leah Bae (VP of Programs & Partnerships at HGL)

In the fast-evolving landscape of political campaigns, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Embracing new technology isn’t just a choice but a necessity in how we implement and design our strategies. As we navigate the challenges faced by campaigns and organizations, this is the first part of our Spotlighting Challenges Series that sheds light on tech solutions that would reshape communication, advocacy, and organizing, particularly in 2024 where democracy takes center stage.

Generative AI will revolutionize politics, and is already sparking industry-wide debate on its impact and how to prepare for it. Amidst the buzz, we must remind ourselves that we are familiar with AI. From instructing Siri to using Google Translate, we possess more knowledge about AI than we might realize.

At Higher Ground Labs, we see the potential of Generative AI to tackle challenges in today’s political landscape. With the immense workloads, fatigue, and tight deadlines, Generative AI has the capability to alleviate these issues by easing staff burdens and streamlining organizational processes. Key areas AI can assist organizations staff include:

 

Content Creation

Challenges: Developing campaign messages and creating engaging social media posts can be both time consuming and resource intensive.

Solutions: Generative AI can draft campaign messages and create engaging social media posts, freeing up precious time to focus its efforts in other areas.

Tools to spotlight

 

Quiller’s AI copilot that helps Democratic campaigns and allied organizations draft and deploy high quality, effective fundraising content.

 

 

Chorus AI helps campaigns increase their content production by keeping campaigns connected to the attention cycle and social graph, and optimizing creativity for each member of a campaign audience.

 

 

 

SoSha’s Generative AI technology generates a variety of different posts catered to different audiences and platforms to maximize audience engagement.

 

 

 

 

Jumpstart’s Generative AI uses advanced algorithms to generate videos based on specific inputs such as texts, images, or video clips. It analyzes the provided content and assembles it into a cohesive and visually appealing video.

 

 

 

 

Winnable is a website builder leveraging the power of AI to create and test high-quality content for down ballot campaigns and causes.

 

 

Data & Analytics

Challenges: It is a complex task to analyze large amounts of data and predict voter behavior and strategies which drive many campaigns. Many traditional methods may not be equipped to handle volume efficiently.

Solutions: AI algorithms are capable of handling and analyzing large datasets which allows campaigns and organizations to make decisions based on accurate data and optimized strategy.

Tools to Spotlight

 

 

INTRVL uses effective media measurement and optimization via machine learning models for audience targeting and response analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

Measure Studio is a social media content intelligence and analytics platform that uses AI to understand and optimize content performance.

 

 

Media & Messaging

Challenges: Understanding trends and the preferences of a more diverse audience can be challenging and requires organizations and campaigns to optimize content for better engagement.

Solutions: AI Generative tools can analyze demographics, behavioral data, and emotional tone to ensure message precision for different groups.

Tools to Spotlight

 

 

Grow Progress identifies which messages or content work best by running Rapid Message Tests.

 

 

 

 

 

Swayable measures the impact of political messages and helps campaigns optimize messaging strategies.

 

 

Research & Polling

Challenges: Predicting election outcomes and understanding public opinion is a costly process and may not always capture the shift in the political landscape.

Solutions: AI is capable of developing models based on historical data, trends, and can gather a vast amount of information from social media and news. It allows campaigns and organizations to capture changes in public opinion in real-time.

Tools to Spotlight

 

 

With a click of a button, Plural analyzes bill text using AI to find commonalities in other bills across its database of state legislatures and the US Congress.

 

 

 

 

With Magnify AI Targeting, Change Research is making custom-modeled targets, previously only available to the largest campaigns and organizations, available to everyone.

 

 

 

Fathom has transformed 25M+ verbatim responses into actionable insights for leading brands and researchers, analyzing open-ended text responses faster and more accurately than ever before.

 

 

Voter contact & Organizing

Challenges: With a diverse and dynamic political voter base, personalizing outreach and ensuring messaging is effective poses a major challenge to campaigns and organizations as they develop their organizing strategies.

Solutions: AI can create a personalized approach and messaging by analyzing individual political preferences. This allows a more optimized approach and a message that resonates with different demographics which in turn creates a more effective voter contact strategy.

Tools to Spotlight

 

 

Ballotready is using AI to improve our ability to aggregate democracy’s data down to the local level in order to power our one-stop civic center for constituent engagement.

 

 

 

 

Daisychain is an organizing platform, their latest AI-powered feature parses incoming text messages from voters, and suggests the correct response – saving staff and volunteers countless hours that can be used on other campaign tasks.

 

 

Of course, it is crucial to make the right choices when choosing vendors that leverage Generative AI. When selecting, choose and prioritize vendors with clear data policies and human-centric approach that values feedback. Exercise caution with vendors who lack transparency or promote AI replacing staff.

In the era of technological advancement, the future of politics lies in maximizing the power of AI responsibly. It’s imperative that we work more efficiently in order to protect our democracy, institutions, and the principles of our nation. At Higher Ground Labs, we are excited to be at the forefront of the progressive political tech ecosystem by partnering with industry leaders to incorporate technologies and strategically contribute to the success of Democrats.