By Dan Walters, Calmatters
Business mogul Mark Cuban conducted an interesting experiment during last week’s debate between President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump.
He fed a transcript of the debate into ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, and asked it to rate the two political rivals as if they were applying for a job, based on their “communication skills, clarity, problem-solving abilities and overall professionalism.”
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Cuban said ChatGPT cited Biden’s strengths as including “extensive experience in public service,” as well as “empathy” and “social awareness.” However, it mentioned weaknesses such as a lack of “coherence and clarity” and “focus and consistency.”
The bot praised Trump’s “assertiveness and confidence” and “economic focus,” plus his emphasis on “financial performance and business acumen.” But it was critical of Trump’s “hyperbole and exaggeration,” and knocked his “grandiose claims” that could “raise concerns about his reliability.”
As I watched the debate, I had exactly the same reactions. I wondered why, 248 years after a few brave colonists dared to “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor” and issue the Declaration of Independence from the vast British empire, we have two such unqualified contenders for the world’s most important job.
Is this the best we could do?
The men who issued that declaration in 1776 were the best and brightest of the era — imperfect human beings, certainly, and often in conflict with each other over such issues as slavery and the structure of a new nation’s government. But they were united in their historic determination to shun a monarchy and establish self-governance.
The battle between Biden and Trump reflects the extreme partisanship that has all but erased effective national governance. The men and women who occupy two closely matched legislative houses devote most of their time to scoring gotchas on each other rather than passing meaningful legislation. The judicial system has been weaponized and the echo chambers of social media and talking-head television drown out the efforts of professional journalists to make sense of what’s happening, or not happening.
The nation’s yawning gap between two parties driven by their ideological extremes — each portraying the other as evil incarnate — takes a different form away from Washington where healthy competition has evolved into unhealthy crusades for dominance.
Slowly, if inexorably, all but a few states have become captives of one party or the other and so completely that only a handful are considered in play during the duel for presidential electoral votes.
With one-party rule becoming the norm in most states — California being a prime example — dominant parties cater to their special interests and more extreme elements while their political figures wage rhetorical war with their counterparts in other states.
Democratic voters are effectively powerless captives in Republican states, and the opposite is true in Democratic states. Those in a one-sided state’s political minority feel increasingly alienated and are motivated to migrate to states where they feel more accepted.
Political tribalization and the demonizing of those outside the tribe makes the United States more disunited.
Trump’s bid for a second presidency could be derailed by his multitude of criminal charges, despite a Supreme Court declaration this week that he is immune to prosecution for official actions, but not for private activities. Biden’s bid for reelection could be thwarted if leaders of his party persuade him to retire rather than risk defeat.
However, at the moment it’s likely that one or the other will be inaugurated next January. We don’t need a chatbot to make us shake our heads about that scenario.
###
CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.
Op-Ed’s are written by community members, not representatives of edhat. The views and opinions expressed in Op-Ed articles are those of the author’s.
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No. No, it’s not. Not in any way imaginable is it the best we can do.
Sadly, we have a very high percentage of poorly educated people who will believe anything that Fox News, Parler, Twitter, even memes on Facebook tell them is “fact.” While watching family members choke to death and die from Covid, they’ll believe “it’s just a cold” and don’t need the vaccine. They’ll believe that drag queens reading to children is far more detrimental to kids than teaching intolerance, hate and exclusion. They’ll believe that Donald Trump is a “Christian.” Like he told them, he loves “the poorly educated.” I wonder why…..
When someone must demonize and name call a group who opposes their point of view, they become so myopic their opinion means nothing. Everything said above is Just hate speech.
No actual meaningful insight, no intellectual contribution to any conversation, just ranting and raving to a specific audience, which agrees with his point of view.
Childish to say the least.
Those demographics are pretty well substantiated. The cons have been pandering to the ignorant and gullible for decades, and have been very successful in their recruitment.
Cases in point right above your comment lol!
Anonymous – How do you refer to people that follow a “vegetable,” a person everyone knows is not making critical decisions. It appears dems have placed themselves into a real fix by currently eviscerating their leader in a possible attempt at removing him from office. How do you refer to these dems? They don’t want Trump and are now stabbing their “leader” in the back.
DOULIE – first off, no one “follows” Biden like the cult that follows yours. We vote for who we think is best, we don’t drape ourselves in his images and share paintings of him with Jesus.
Second, “these dems” are making choices based on what THEY think, not Biden. Again, a complete reversal from those who blindly follow a known liar and fraud without making their own decisions about things.
I’d refer to these people, which do not represent all Democrats, as capable and individual adults.
Interesting point now that the Corporate media, top Democrats & Hollywood has finally acknowledged that Biden has a mental illness. The week prior to the debate the aforementioned all said Joes mental decline was a right wing conspiracy.
So what happened in a week? Did Joe have a stroke? Nope
Why the sudden acknowledgment of Joes mental state? It’s what most people have witnessed over the last couple years.
Biden is not the Democratic Nominee, yet.
Two questions, do Democrat Voters support Biden in his mental decline as for to run the country?
And do they honestly think Joe will actually be on the November ballot?
Reality is Joe should be in an elder memory facility, not running a country.
What they are doing is a form of elder abuse. It is truly sad how his wife, son & Democratic Party are treating him.
While the GOP ignores the mental illnesses and physical and mental decline of their cult leader.
Spot on.
When have you ever contributed anything of value here? It’s all just pathetic one liners.
GOLETA – “No actual meaningful insight, no intellectual contribution to any conversation” – look in the mirror and introduce yourself to the Kettle, bub.
Pretty hilarious response GoletaLocal since the guy you support (Trump) insults anyone and everyone constantly. Yet.. you’re still voting for him, right?
And so does GoletaLocal himself, even in that very comment.
Biden calls individual voters names like,when he called a Democrat voter at one of his rallies a “lying dog faced pony soldier”
Or how about his calling Trump voters terrorists
Biden called Trump a loser and a whiner in the debate
When Hilary lost she called Trump an illegitimate president, denying the election results.
So why is it ok for Democrats to call people, voters names?
But Trump can’t call politicians and those trying to sue him names?
Just asking since name calling has always been big even here in local elections.
And no, not ok for the couple of times Dems have insulted oppenents to answer the question. Thing is, it rarely happens so it’s really a non-issue.
Hahahaha. Your logic is about as clear as Trump’s. I’ll call the nurse to usher you back to bed.
GOLETA again…. “When someone must demonize and name call a group who opposes their point of view”
Same guy in the same same sentence: “they become so myopic their opinion means nothing”
And then again a couple sentences later….: “Childish to say the least.”
Do you have any self awareness about how hypocritical you are? You’ve provided NOTHING here but insulting me for my observations about actual facts, not my opposition to your “point of view.”
So freaking tired of these Cons crying here about how they just have a different point of view.
The 2020 election was NOT rigged. FACT, not “a point of view.”
Discrimination against others for being born gay, black, trans, etc is not “a point of view.”
On and on…..
Too true! When Trump calls his opponents scum, trash, filth, criminals and invites them to rot in hell as a way of supporting holidays his opinion means nothing.
As do the opinions of his supporters.
There was no demonization or name calling in his comment, just a set of facts. OTOH, your comment IS demonization and name calling. But then, it’s an established fact that every right wing accusation is a confession.
GOLETA – all those statements are true and widely evidenced. Prove them wrong if you think you can. I’m merely describing the insane phenomenon we’ve all observed in which many of his supporters will believe anything he says, regardless how many experts or studies show he’s simply lying.
Prove them wrong.
Darn, I wish we had an edit button on comments! Hit post too soon. I also meant to add that we also have a problem on the left. Biden is not our best, not at all. Unfortunately, no one told him earlier or even attempted to put up a younger, more vigorous and more centrist candidate to attract those more “sane” Republicans who are hesitant to vote for America’s first dictator. Biden is not that candidate.
Biden was the 2020 Dem candidate closest to the center … his entire career is characterized by being smack dab in the center. He wasn’t my preferred Dem candidate but has outdone my expectations. Of course there were younger more vigorous candidates, like Pete Buttigieg, but Republicans always find reasons to oppose decent people. Buttigieg is whip-smart, which is why he chose not to run against the successful incumbent in 2020. The same goes for Newsom and others. The people who did run, like Dean Phillips, Jason Palmer, and Marianne Williamson, got trounced–Biden won 89% of the vote and 96% of the delegates.
And at this point, after 3.5 years of the most effective administration in decades (Biden picks good people) and in July with no time for anyone else to put together a campaign or funding, and with no clear agreed upon replacement, Biden is by far the best option. Never in history has the party that bypassed their incumbent won the Presidency.
DALGORF – I agree, he WAS the best and he is pretty center. Thing is, right now we need to pander to those who don’t really want to vote for an end to our nation as we know it. That means a dem who is considered to be even more centrist. Not saying I agree that we should, but I honestly think, if we had put up someone liked more by the middle leaning right, we could have had a better chance.
Biden is great, but right now I’m seriously concerned. Is he the best option now to beat Trump? Maybe… hopefully. Is he the best option we could have put up to beat Trump. No, not in my opinion.
What I can say, whole-heartedly, is that I’ve sent funds to BOTH Democratic and Republican candidates who were NOT Joe Biden or Donald Trump, as my effort to avoid a repeat of the 2020 matchup. It seems I failed. I KNOW we can do better. Still…. It ain’t over yet!
We absolutely can do better. One side is terrified of the megalomaniac and his idiot cult and the other side is skittish and cannibalizing their own candidate out of fear. Although… there is still only one side who believes in democracy.
History will remember the debate as the public unveiling of the biggest coverup in US history. Biden was suffering from significant cognitive decline when he took office and has rapidly declined, but his administration and their stenographers (mainstream media) have insisted that all is well and we should not believe what we see with our own eyes.
The Biden administration, the mainstream media, and everyone who participated in this coverup should be ashamed of themselves.
ANON – do you have proof of that conspiracy? You know, like we have absolute, 100%, undeniable, easily verifiable, undisputed proof that Trump is a liar, a fraud, a cheat, an adulterer, a felon, a racist, and completely unfit to run a business ethically and honestly, much less the United States of America….
And no, youtube videos are not “proof.”
Anon – you are correct, even the democrats are questioning why it took the debate to lift the veil off the MSM covering Biden.
I would bet Sac, Bro, Dalgolf, Alex, were all completely on board with Biden before the debate.
Now they realize they have been duped, but will not really admit to it, sac did come close admitting Biden is “Biden is not our best, not at all”. Dalgolf is actually defending him, which is a head scratcher. Maybe his did not actually watch the debate?
I clearly touched the triggered button with all of these folks hence the 20 replies, insults, etc.
I will say watching the debate was enjoyable – November is going to be downright spectacular!
Enjoy the show leading up the election, watching the libs eat each other alive is great theater.
GOLETA – it’s sad that you seem proud about your hypocritical troll. The “button” you pushed was nothing more than everyone owning you for the absurdness of your comment.
Back on topic though (good job actually doing that for once), I think there was a lot of concern about Biden being our guy long before the debate. I’ve been hoping for over a year we could put someone else up, but it is what it is. If a seagull’s turd ran for the Dems, I’d vote for it just to keep our Country from turning into a dictatorship.
You can laugh and giggle all you want, but if you truly love freedom, democracy and integrity, you won’t be laughing long if Trump wins.
Have you read Project 2025?
Goleta – Better yet, Jan ’25. Ladies & Gentlemen, say hello to the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
Not sure he’ll really have the title “president” for long……
You are referring to Biden of course . ..
GOLETA – No, I’m talking about the racist and sexist fraudulent felon that has tricked you into thinking he’ll act for the good of democracy and the American people (not just the white, straight, rich ones) if you guys somehow pull this off.
Then again, maybe you really want that?
Says the prison guard as he steps out of his cell
Coverup BoomerSooner? You’ve posted some really ignorant things on this site before and you don’t disappoint.
I would vote for Biden’s corpse before I vote for Trump. They could do a whole FDR campaign and make Biden like Weekend at Bernie’s and I would still vote for him. Because his administration and those around him will uphold democracy and the founding principles of this country. While Trump has fascists obsessed with theocracy that have been outlined in Project 2025. You aren’t paying attention and it might be due to you being brainwashed or you simply aren’t smart enough.
When Biden puts his foot in his mouth, at least he acknowledges it and corrects it. As a stammerer, he has to concentrate on the mechanics of speech.
The orange guy, on the other hand, just doubles down on his gaffes and spews more covfefe. As an inveterate liar, it’s just like breathing for him.
As for Biden, he is like a decrepit leader in the old Soviet Union kept hidden away so that the true state of his decline was never revealed. The press failed to do its watchdog function to dig into what really was going on with his health.
After the debate, it became clear to all that the administration handlers were keeping a sick man under wraps.
A fascinating comparison of Biden with the end stages of Leonid Brezhnev below. If Biden is like Brezhnev was, then who will be his Yuri Andropov?
https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/11/our-brezhnev-our-pravda-our-soviet-union/
SHASTA – just curious, do you think a known fraud and convicted felon would be a better choice? Especially one that has taken on almost God-like form to his devout followers? One that is seen as infallible, despite years of evidence to the contrary? One who will usher in an age of social regression in our country as he acts out his petty vengeance with little to no resistance? Is that really the better choice over an older and admittedly cloudy, albeit honest and good man surrounded by a highly qualified support team?
RFK won’t win, Einstein. Go ahead and vote for Trump though, that’s what an RFK vote is.
And what about the mentally and physically unfit conspiracy theorist who threatens to be a dictator on day one on top of the other charges and convictions he already has.
But yeah… let’s focus on the old guy trying to hold democracy together.
Are you up to date on your boosters?
I am. Are you busy spreading polio around the county? Don’t worry, Bill Gates is tracking you with his 5G cell towers.
As usual, citing a source of misinformation:
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/american-greatness/
But at least SG has moved on from the Bulgarian troll farm and Falun Gong propaganda.
Shasta County might be better suited given your username. The land of the free, where teachers are fired for simply teaching history and public officials are harassed and forced to quit for not believing crazy conspiracies. Shame, such beautiful land up there but too many uneducated people to start mob mentality based on lies.
I know the online community does not match the feelings of normal Americans
But this is over the top. You all are proposing that an incompetent and senile old man should be President for 4 more years.
He has done everything possible to promote wars in Ukraine and Gaza. 500,000+ dead Ukrainians plus 180,000 dead Palestinians.
When does this end? When do you realize you are not ‘the left’. You are all warmongers. Time to clean house.
MS – every single sentence you typed (except “When does this end”) is false. Each one.
What is false?
Everything you said. Figure it out on your own. I’m sick of doing research for you folks.
500,000+ dead Ukrainians?
Wrong.
180,000 dead Palestinians
Wrong.
Come on. Even Hamas claims under 40k dead. What are you even talking about?
M S – Whacko nonsense from the con blogosphere.
And the other senile old man is anti-war?
It’s obvious from the comments EdHat readers are not open to conversation and are very one sided. Too bad, EH used to be a good read.
SBSLETSGET – nothing is stopping you from discussing the events I asked you about.
Dear ironic screen name:
I don’t interact with people who post crap like this: “So who is in charge? Jill? Obama? Who tells the.most vacationed President, the most absent President what to do? Now Criminal Crack addict Hunter is his chief of staff. This is so funny if it were not so sad. Good luck, the Chinese or Russians or Taliban will be running this country soon under Joes watch.”
It is too bad. Edhat’s “conservative” commenters didn’t used to be pro-fascist conspiracy theorists who support a convicted felon and predator but look at you all now! I wish Ed would ban commenters like yourself who continuously post nonsense.