Election Desk: Rage against the PN's machine

Welcome to the Election Desk. This is where we round up the major headlines of the last 24 hours, together with some of the more light-hearted and funnier sides of the campaign trail.

PN ex machina

On Monday, the PN launched an AI chatbot to help voters navigate its manifesto. Within 48 hours, it had generated an oil rig to illustrate a clean energy proposal and a sprawling mega-harbour in Mġarr that would require land that Gozo doesn’t actually have.

The chatbot has since stopped producing images, and the PN has said the visuals were conceptual aids, not architectural drawings.

This is what the PN chatbot generated when asked about the PN's plans for the Gozo harbour. Photo: Facebook / Daniel Cilia

Props to the PN for putting on a tech-forward campaign, but this is the party’s second AI stumble in two days. On Tuesday, the chatbot turned on its own party when prompted about renewable energy targets, even agreeing with Labour’s energy minister Miriam Dalli that there was a conflict in the PN manifesto.

On the upside, this chatbot has probably given the party strong engagement.

No rest for ribbon-cutters

In the few weeks since the election was called, Robert Abela has inaugurated a factory, two gardens, a ferry service and signed an AI deal with OpenAI and Microsoft.

When journalists asked whether this was appropriate during a campaign, he said it wasn’t about promoting projects but implementing them.

In other countries, there are usually formal or unspoken rules about promoting projects during an election campaign.

In the UK, for example, ministers are encouraged to exercise discretion over announcements or decisions that could influence votes. Abela dismissed this entirely.

The timing is still hard to ignore. Even during the most productive weeks of the Labour government in the past legislature, the pace at which the government is inaugurating projects has been speedy at best.

Missing: your voting document

We are 10 days out from election day, but some voters still haven’t received their voting document. If you didn’t receive yours, you can collect it from your local police station or local council office until Sunday, May 24. Make sure to bring your ID card with you.

After Sunday, you will be able to collect your document from the Electoral Commission Counting Complex in Naxxar, or the Electoral Office in Victoria for Gozo voters.

Nobody will be allowed to vote without it, so don’t leave it to the last minute.

Voting documents for the upcoming election can be collected from police stations or local council offices. File photo: Times of Malta

Momentum’s serious proposals

Momentum has laid out three proposals on domestic violence: immediate emergency-level response for every reported case, a dedicated judge for domestic violence proceedings, and government funding for NGO accommodation for victims and their children.

The party says the current system is broken across three stages, namely crisis response, court delays, and a shortage of safe housing.

Domestic violence reports to police have risen 70% over five years – but that might be due to increased awareness around the issue.

A previous reform assigned specific magistrates to these cases, but the judiciary has struggled to keep pace.