Your AI-ness! Behind the scenes of the king’s smooth visit to Kenya, he will praise the helping hand of Artificial Intelligence
- Palace assistants tested artificial intelligence for the first time during a visit to Kenya
- Digimind software used to monitor social media comments about the king
- Assistants can adjust the schedules of royal visits if AI warns that a visit is unpopular
King Charles will thank courtiers for his smooth visit to Kenya last week – but behind the scenes he will also praise the helping hand of AI.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that palace aides tried artificial intelligence for the first time during the royal visit to Kenya to monitor the king’s popularity on social media.
It follows Charles’ video speech last week to Rishi Sunak’s AI safety summit at Bletchley Park, where he said the rise of artificial intelligence was as important as splitting the atom or harnessing fire.
The software, called Digimind, uses AI algorithms to monitor social media comments about the King.
The technology works on all major platforms, including TikTok, to sort comments into three categories: negative, neutral and positive.
Popularity ratings: Palace aides used artificial intelligence for the first time to track the king’s popularity on social media during his visit to Kenya
Every day, courtiers received a summary of the king’s popularity rating in Kenya, Britain and around the world.
According to the AI assistant, the visit to Kenya was a resounding success.
At the start of the week, King Charles’ popularity rating on Kenyan social media, calculated via a ‘sentiment rating index’ ranging from -100 to +100, was +38 percent.
By Friday afternoon this had risen to +70 percent.
The visit also had a positive impact worldwide.
On Tuesday his international score was -2, compared to +51 percent on Friday.
In Great Britain it rose from +7 percent to +54 percent.
AI monitored online comments on whether the king should formally apologize for Britain’s colonial past, which aides were watching closely after the king’s speech on Tuesday.
A courtier said: ‘AI gives us real-time assessments of how the visit is going and enables quick decision-making.
‘It also shows the tangible impact of the royal travels.’
In the future, aides could adjust the schedule of royal visits if AI warns them that an event is unpopular or has sparked controversy.
Charles gave a video address to Rishi Sunak’s AI safety summit at Bletchley Park last week, where he said the rise of artificial intelligence was as important as splitting the atom.
“AI allows us to see if an event has been poorly received on social media and allows us to change things in the future or explain the context,” a palace source said.
Now that the journey is over, courtiers will consider whether to extend the AI trial, weighing whether it is useful and cost-effective.