When it comes to politics, this year’s technology race is set to influence who are the winners in upcoming elections. While AI has opened up a plethora of opportunities for various organisations, the undisclosed details of how political parties use this technology in strategy development have left many communication professionals contemplating the most effective ways to ride this wave.
Let’s go beyond the mere utilisation of AI for internal strategies and explore how you can broaden the application of this advanced technology outside your organisation. We will delve into employing AI to scrutinise competitors’ communication efforts and decipher their underlying political strategies.
Unlocking competitor insights with AI
Analysing policy differences entails a meticulous examination of the positions and proposals presented by diverse political parties or candidates. The integration of AI into your research not only enhances the effectiveness and thoroughness of the analysis but also frees up your resources for more human-centric tasks. This approach undoubtedly provides your party with a significant competitive advantage.
Moreover, you can leverage this research to discern the strengths of your rivals and identify areas where your plan may need refinement.
Scraping from online data
Official party platforms or candidate websites have always served as reliable initial resources for understanding their stated positions on various issues.
By utilising NLP/LLM algorithms, bots or web scraping tools in your research, you can automate the extraction and summarisation of information from online resources and other relevant documents. This process expedites the identification of key policy positions and proposals.
It’s important to note that the GPT model does not use real-time data. However, the recent introduction of Custom GPTs and OpenAI’s marketplace presents tailored options specifically designed for political applications. However, these options are still insufficiently tested. You may prefer to rely on other similar developed software, such as Microsoft’s Bing AI or Google’s Bart. These tools not only use real-time data but also provide original sources for cross-checking statements.
For added certainty, consider inputting text from party manifestos and instructing the machines to generate a summary. Take the opportunity to conduct a self-analysis, ensuring that the information aligns with your intended communication. Additionally, you can ask the chat model to provide a side-by-side comparison between your party positions and those of other selected political organisations or candidates on issues of interest. Look for similarities and differences in the approaches, priorities and proposed solutions.
Apply machine learning algorithms to identify patterns and trends within policy proposals. This proves especially beneficial for uncovering hidden correlations or subtle distinctions that may not be readily apparent through manual analysis. Examine the track records of parties or candidates, especially if they have been in power before. Analyse their past actions and decisions related to key issues.
Additionally, the Manifesto Project Database and Manifesto Corpus stand out as valuable resources for scrutinising historical party programmes. Utilise AI to analyse this data by evaluating keywords and the overall political direction of parties.
On the other hand, AI allows you to track new competitor activities, latest partnerships and strategic shifts in real-time through automated news and social media monitoring.
By analysing competitors’ political portfolios, it will allow you to identify benchmarking opportunities and areas of differentiation.
Recorded candidate stances
AI plays an indispensable role in analysing online debates. The use of deep learning for speech analysis facilitates a thorough examination of speeches, providing insights into topics that resonate with voters and offering guidance on effective communication strategies. For example, by using the latest videos, intelligent software can assist in transcribing and summarising recorded interactions, extracting key values and recognizing the underlying message.
Furthermore, employing sentiment analysis and machine learning techniques allows for an understanding of the philosophies expressed in political speeches, party platforms and various documents. This approach deepens the comprehension of fundamental motivations behind each party or candidate.
AI possesses the capability to extract significant words and phrases from speeches, debates and campaign materials, providing insights into the public’s pulse, opinions or sentiments on key issues – such as healthcare, education, the economy and foreign affairs.
Final thoughts on social media
By examining the social media presence of your rivals and identifying essential metrics and trends, AI can be of assistance. Here are a few examples:
Content analysis: AI can assist in analysing your rivals’ content, identifying trends in format, tone and messaging.
Real-time monitoring of social media conversations: AI can be trained to monitor social media conversations in real-time, capturing key words and phrases.
Lastly, the prowess of various AI agents extends to real-time monitoring, continuously tracking changes to websites, social media activities and the execution of Search Engine Optimisation strategies. This vigilance provides instant insights into the shifts occurring in competitors’ marketing approaches. Additionally, savvy communicators can leverage sentiment analysis of online reviews and discussions to unearth specific concerns resonating within the target market.