A Swarm Intelligence ponders Billionaire Presidents

Let’s face it: in American politics, money matters. Whether you’re talking about a candidates’ net worth or their ability to fund and manage a campaign, people want to know their candidates are fiscally responsible before handing over the keys to the national coffers.

Curiously, the two leaders in the Iowa polls occupy opposite ends of the financial spectrum. Republican Donald Trump is a billionaire, while Bernie Sanders owns a $100,000 condo and carries $25K in debt. In short, Trump’s net worth is estimated to be 11,000x greater than Sanders.

Researchers at Unanimous AI wanted to see how voters felt about having a billionaire President. Using a technique called Swarm Intelligence, the respondents work together to answer the questions and find common ground. Here is an example:

As you can see, the group quickly converged on the idea that a billionaire “can’t be bought.” That’s certainly an admirable trait for someone who would be the leader of the free world. But, what are the downsides?

Here the “Swarm” reveals the concern that a billionaire candidate might be out of touch with regular people. That’s a problem, but Trump’s poll numbers seem to indicate that he’s connecting with people despite his lofty financial status. So maybe an inability to relate doesn’t matter?

Not so fast. The researchers at Unanimous A.I. wanted to see what the Swarm Intelligence would say if they pitted Bernie Sanders directly against the man worth 11,000x as much as him. What did the swarm reveal?

The election is still months away. But, one thing is very clear – when tapping the collective sentiment of random voters (across parties and regions), the public believes there’s a lot more to being president than being rich.

Want to try swarming?

Now you can – the folks at UNU are looking for BETA USERS to help form swarms on all kinds of topics, from Sports and Politics, to video games and movies. Just fill out the form below and we’ll send you an invite….

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