<\/p>\n
Nancy\u00a0Pelosi in San Francisco in March 2025.\u00a0Pelosi and Democratic allies accused Scott Wiener\u2019s campaign of using a sexist AI chatbot to attack rival Connie Chan.<\/p>\n
Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n
Congressional candidate Connie Chan and U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco in May. Pelosi and Democratic allies accused Scott Wiener\u2019s campaign of using a sexist AI chatbot to attack rival Chan.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Fanjoy\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi<\/a> and a coalition of Democratic lawmakers and San Francisco political\u00a0groups accused state Sen. Scott Wiener\u2019s\u00a0congressional campaign<\/a> Thursday of using artificial intelligence<\/a> to demean his opponent, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen have spent generations fighting to have our own voices heard in the halls of power,\u201d Pelosi and the other signatories wrote in a joint statement. \u201cWe should not have to now fight against artificial intelligence putting words in our mouths.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The criticism centers on ConnieChan.ai<\/a>,\u00a0a parody chatbot powered by Anthropic\u2019s Claude model. The site describes the tool as an AI \u201ctrained to say no to anything you ask.\u201d<\/p>\n The site features a photo of Chan above a heading that reads, \u201cLet\u2019s do nothing together,\u201d along with suggested topics such as \u201cblocking housing\u201d and \u201cfailing education.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0chatbot says: \u201cBring me an idea and I\u2019ll explain why it can\u2019t, shouldn\u2019t, and won\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Supervisor Connie Chan during a debate against Scott Wiener for a congressional seat in San Francisco in March. The seat became available upon the announced retirement of Speaker\u00a0Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and the district will get its first new Congressional representative since 1987.<\/p>\n Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Chan\u2019s campaign has accused the chatbot of producing racist and sexist responses and described it as a caricature of her.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Wiener\u2019s team defended the project as political satire intended to highlight differences between the candidates as they compete this November for a congressional seat that Pelosi has held since 1987. Pelosi has endorsed Chan in the November election.<\/p>\n The statement was signed by Pelosi, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, several other Democratic members of Congress, San Francisco Supervisors Jackie Fielder and Chyanne Chen, and several local Democratic clubs.<\/p>\n It described the\u00a0chatbot as a \u201cgross misuse of technology\u201d and said AI-generated attacks on a woman of color can reinforce stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a statement provided to The Chronicle, Chan spokesperson Ian Krager said Wiener was \u201cattacking those who raised legitimate concerns about (the chatbot\u2019s) racist and sexist responses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of apologizing or taking responsibility for his bigotry, Senator Wiener is blaming everyone else,\u201d Krager said. \u201cThat\u2019s easier than explaining why someone who claims to be a leader on AI safety chose to use this technology as a political weapon of deception and misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n