Can AI help people vote? These Denver students think so

Let’s face the truth. The official voter guide, Colorado Blue Book, can be intimidating.

And this year it is extraordinary. Students in a civil rights class in southwest Denver suspected that was one reason people weren’t voting.

They thought, what if they used artificial intelligence to create a way to simplify voting and make it more user-friendly?

After learning about who is voting and who isn’t, they’ve created two powerful tools aimed at helping people register to vote and understand candidates and voting results—in multiple languages.

“I wanted to reach out to more people so they know that their voice really matters and that it should be heard,” said Hector, 17, a senior at DSST College View.

addition, VoteWise Coloradowill guide you step by step through the voting process and chat bot answers any questions you may have about the issues in your newsletter.

“The main goal was access and support for people to understand the voting process and get information to vote,” said civics teacher Zach Kennelly.

The students first asked who doesn’t vote?

They decided they wanted the program to target young people and immigrants who have the right to vote but are more comfortable using their native language. There are traditionally young people much less likely to vote than older Americans. Hispanic and Asian Americans make up the largest number of immigrants who have the right to vote. Many students have family members who are naturalized citizens and have technical language difficulties.

Right now, people can use the app and the bot in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

“The voting stuff is primarily focused on English-speaking people,” said Orion, who hopes students can expand the number of languages ​​on the app. “Now they’re going to have just as much of a chance to learn to vote and do all these great things as everyone else in America.”

Hector, whose native language is Spanish, said he feels “empowered” and “heard” when he sees other languages ​​represented.

Without further ado, I want to test drive this baby

Juan is helping me start my journey to voting.

“Am I registered to vote?” I ask

He enters the bot’s question and it takes me to the official Colorado voters website, where I quickly find out who I am. If not, I am on the official page where I can register.

“When will my ballot arrive in the mail?” my next question.

(He already has, but I wanted to see if he gave the correct answer. Yes.)

“What’s on my ballot this year?” I am asking.

Marabella, 17, reads the chatbot’s response, a nice short summary of the 14 statewide measures I’ll be voting on, such as tax measures, constitutional rights, criminal justice issues, wildlife protection, and judicial retention and state and congressional races .

This is a simple, easy to understand introduction. I’m beginning to see how this might appeal to the younger generation who like information in bite-sized chunks.

Jenny Brundin/CPR News

Jenny Brundin/CPR News

Then I start asking the chatbot about each measure, for example, “Tell me more about Proposition 129.”

It explains in plain language the proposed creation of the Diploma of Veterinary Medicine, what a yes vote would mean and what a no vote would mean.

I ask, and the AI ​​answers with short and sweet pros and cons. Most importantly, another student, Angel, tells me that it’s not the same thing that a Google search can use unreliable sources.

“Bots like these, we’ve taught them the real Blue Book and what’s in the documents themselves,” he said. “I think that’s a safer way to understand what’s going on.”

Users can even continue by interacting with a chatbot to help them think about their identity as a voter.

It also helps you understand how to track your ballot and provides links to election results.

What it means to be an informed voter

Gianna Geraffo’s civics class also helped create the app and bot. Right now, 18-year-old students are making plans to vote, while 17-year-olds are studying the ballot and researching the most important indicator to them.

“I don’t think I would be engaged at all … I would wait also because it’s not what you’re taught, you have to find out for yourself,” said Sitlali, who pre-registered to vote. “It prepared me and gave me more options and resources for how I can vote.”

Jenny Brundin/CPR News

Students say many people they know don’t know how to vote and what to vote for or against. They think the app will help.

Leonard is going to help his two older nephews vote.

“I don’t know if my brother is really going to guide them, so it would be good to just help them.”

Geraffo also satisfied the project. She said it taught students how to ethically use technical skills they may need in the future. And it closes a huge gap she sees in voter turnout and civic engagement.

“Part of why I’m a teacher is that I want to help close that gap and empower students and people to realize that they do have a voice and there are many ways that they can be heard.”

Hands-on learning resonates more deeply with students

Zach Kennelly walks among his students as they inspect their finished products for the first time. They reflect on what they like and what could be improved. Colors? Design? The students built them in just two weeks.

“Before artificial intelligence, this type of thing took forever to create,” said Caden, who worked to ensure that the app seamlessly guides people to candidate information. “It becomes even more useful when you don’t have to remember the code because the bot gives it to you.”

Jenny Brundin/CPR News

Many students said they did not like the “hard work” for grades they do in school and preferred this style of learning.

“It gave me a chance to be creative,” Angel said. “It had to be something that would actually be used…something big and relevant right now…not just some work that I had to write down and memorize for class.”

Angel welcomed the opportunity to use AI.

“It’s getting smarter and smarter and smarter, it’s going to be more important later in my life, so I think it was important to learn about this tool and how to use it and how to actually create something with it,” he said.

Industry partner Tinman Kinetics, which creates software for companies that need AI-based solutions, helped with the project. The students used the Playlab platform, a non-profit artificial intelligence company that provides teachers with access to large language models for educational purposes. Students practiced creating chat bots.

Jenny Brundin/CPR News

They also used Claude, an artificial intelligence assistant that generates textual content in human conversations and code to quickly create “artifacts,” or drafts of web pages. To unify the work of each group, Tinman Kinetics put all the code together using a program called Boxcar.

Company representative Justin Williams said that this is a unique moment in history – young people have the power to determine the direction of AI development.

“Future generations will judge us by what we do with this powerful technology today,” he said.

Although they are too cool to show it, the students are very happy to have their names on the credits of the two products.

As the class ends, Williams tells them:

“Congratulations, this (app and bot) is public. It’s right now.”

There are smiles.