Listen to this articleLocal political campaigns are usually low-budget affairs – not aesthetically, but financially. And that’s out of necessity. Most local candidates simply cannot raise the kind of cash that, say, a statewide campaign is capable of. Even most state legislative elections draw more donations.
So it may surprise some political observers to learn that a city council candidate in Jersey City is using artificial intelligence to help with canvassing and fundraising. Meet Floyd Jeter and Jonathan Goodman.
Goodman is the founder and CEO of Halyard Consulting, a Jersey City-based firm focused on helping businesses use AI. Jeter is the city’s chief diversity officer and a candidate for an at-large council seat. Goodman is doing volunteer work for Jeter’s campaign, bringing AI to bear on the business of convincing voters to turn out and support a candidate for office. The consultant emphasizes that Halyard’s analysis uses public, aggregate precinct data under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act; no individual voter information or personally identifiable information is used.
In this Election Edition of NJBIZ Conversations, Goodman and Jeter describe how AI works in the campaign, what they’ve learned from the experience, and the lessons for small organizations with limited resources.
