A Reform UK candidate has denied using ChatGPT to write campaign materials on social media - including in apparently heartfelt messages regarding his faith and armed forces veterans.
Several posts from Mark Butcher, the party’s candidate for Blackpool South, appear to have been written using services such as ChatGPT, bringing into question his honesty and knowledge of the issues he claims to be able to solve. He does admit to using technology to allow quick responses in replies.
Among the posts said to be authored by artificial intelligence are ones purportedly containing his detailed analysis of Blackpool Council’s approach to small businesses and other issues which need addressing across the town.
Others posted on his Butcher4South Facebook page include two in which he says we should “honor” veterans, one of which also pays tribute to “their sacrifice and valor”. Both of these posts are the only examples of the American spelling of “honor” compared with several uses of “honour” in older posts. The tone of these posts, which mimics the format generated by ChatGPT, differs significantly from others on his page.
When analysed using an AI detector service by The Blackpool Lead, it was found to have a 100% probability of being created this way. Meanwhile, a post in which Butcher discusses how his faith was rated as having a 95% probability.
That post opens: “As the upcoming General Election on the 4th of July approaches, I felt compelled to reach out to you and express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to serve as a candidate for Blackpool South MP.
“More importantly, I wanted to share with you the values and principles that has guided my life and made me who I am today. My faith in Jesus Christ has been the bedrock of my adult life shaping my character, and influencing most every decision I make.
“Throughout my life, I have witnessed the incredible power of love through faith, compassion & understanding. These values form the core of my vision for Blackpool South.”
Policy discussions also followed the same theme. Butcher’s 500 word essay-style discussion of how to deal with Uber drivers and their impact on Blackpool cabbies was rated as 100% probability of being AI written. So too was his 830 word criticism of the council’s approach to small businesses.
The Reform UK manifesto - or contract as the party refers to it - is the only one of the major parties not to include any mention of AI.
Reform and Butcher were both approached for comment but did not respond before publication. However, when challenged in the comments of his small business discussion, he denied using Chat GPT while conceding he “utilises technology” to respond quickly.
He wrote: “As you can imagine I’m receiving hundreds of messages via email, social media as well as comments from posts, we live in 2024 I utilise technology to respond back in a quick amount of time that way I can get message responses back to people who are asking me a important question, and there is nothing out of order about that, what I would say is I will do what works best for me and you do what works best for you, and the answer to your question is it was not a chatGPT. Good night”
Facebook posts from Mark Butcher
Amazing Graze
Last week, The Blackpool Lead reported that the charities watchdog is considering fresh evidence in a complaint about the soup kitchen linked to Butcher and his use of its premises for his campaign.
Butcher set up the Amazing Graze soup kitchen but stepped down as a trustee in April when the Charity Commission began an assessment into the launch of his by-election campaign at its base.
Charity Commission guidance says charities can take part in political activity that “supports their purpose and is in their best interests”. However, it adds that charities “must remain independent and must not give their support to a political party”.
Butcher is standing in the same constituency for the General Election and a further complaint has been submitted over the use of the property for election campaigning.
Both Amazing Graze and Butcher deny any wrongdoing.
