Re: Chatbot

Activists List
1

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for your work on this. Having a chatbot could be helpful for the reasons you mention, though I don’t think it’s a substitute for real human interaction, and wouldn’t want it to come across as us saying “Talk to the hand”.

If we make the option available for those who’d like to learn more about libertarianism by interacting with a chatbot, I agree we should have a transparent document like this which lays out the algorithm or guidelines on which it operates. I’ve suggested something similar for the national LP, and indeed using an AI might make more sense at scale at the national level. On the other hand, there’s some logic in trying it at the local level first as a kind of pilot program.

There’s a lot of content at the link you’ve sent – much of it looks good but I do have input/concerns about some of the wording, would like to flesh some issues out, etc. If you post this somewhere that it is editable, I will add suggested changes. On a related matter, I recently made some edits to the issues page on the LPSF website – Issues | Libertarian Party of San Francisco.

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

P.S. – Did you receive my follow-up message about the PayPal account and filings below, from several weeks ago (below)? I haven’t seen a response to the question therein.

···

On Oct 10, 2026, at 7:26 PM, Starchild sfdreamer@earthlink.net wrote:

Brendan,

Thank you for finally returning the LPSF’s funds, and turning over the PayPal account to our treasurer. Having that matter outstanding has been an ongoing source of unnecessary stress in my life.

Is everything you sent the state copied below?

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

On Oct 10, 2026, at 3:43 PM, Brendan McMillion brendanmcmillion@gmail.com wrote:

<2023 H1 - 460A.pdf><410 paper copy.pdf><2022 H2 - 460.pdf><2023 H1 - 460.pdf><2022 H2 - 460A.pdf><2024 H1 - 460.pdf><2023 H2 - 460.pdf><2024 H2 - 460.pdf><2025 H1 - 460.pdf><2025 H2 - 460.pdf><2026 H1 - 460.pdf>

On Nov 7, 2026, at 10:04 PM, Brendan McMillion brendanmcmillion@gmail.com wrote:

Hi both

I’ve been working on a chatbot for discussing libertarianism, specifically LPSF policies. It’s been helpful in the past for me to gut-check my own policy ideas by talking them through with AI. But the main reason I’ve been working on this is that I think it would be really valuable to have such a chatbot on our website for anyone who visits to talk to.

Conversations with chatbots have been clinically proven to durably change people’s beliefs. That’s because chatbots are very effective at providing neutral and fact-based arguments, and tailoring those arguments to the person they’re speaking to. Disclosing that a chatbot is programmed explicitly to persuade someone has been shown not to reduce its effectiveness.

However, the chatbot needs to know what it is going to argue for, so I’ve written this document: LPSF Principles and Positions · GitHub

Would you mind reviewing this and letting me know if you agree with adopting the proposed positions? Or if there’s anything missing that you think should be added. Disregard the first line about “flyers, blog posts, etc…”. The chatbot would obviously be good at those tasks too, in addition to talking to people, but that’s not the primary interest for now.

Thank you!

2

Human interaction is of course important too. This is for people that are
only maybe passingly interested in libertarianism, though. Not enough to
come to a meeting or even participate in a forum. You talk to this, it gets
you on board a bit more.

For edits, is Google Docs fine?

Everything I sent to the state was attached and is also on their website.

···

On Mon, Nov 9, 2026, 12:09 PM Starchild sfdreamer@earthlink.net wrote:

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for your work on this. Having a chatbot could be helpful for the
reasons you mention, though I don’t think it’s a substitute for real human
interaction, and wouldn’t want it to come across as us saying “Talk to the
hand”.

If we make the option available for those who’d like to learn more about
libertarianism by interacting with a chatbot, I agree we should have a
transparent document like this which lays out the algorithm or guidelines
on which it operates. I’ve suggested something similar for the national LP,
and indeed using an AI might make more sense at scale at the national
level. On the other hand, there’s some logic in trying it at the local
level first as a kind of pilot program.

There’s a lot of content at the link you’ve sent – much of it looks good
but I do have input/concerns about some of the wording, would like to flesh
some issues out, etc. If you post this somewhere that it is editable, I
will add suggested changes. On a related matter, I recently made some edits
to the issues page on the LPSF website – Issues | Libertarian Party of San Francisco.

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

P.S. – Did you receive my follow-up message about the PayPal account and
filings below, from several weeks ago (below)? I haven’t seen a response to
the question therein.

On Oct 10, 2026, at 7:26 PM, Starchild sfdreamer@earthlink.net wrote:

Brendan,

Thank you for finally returning the LPSF’s funds, and turning over the
PayPal account to our treasurer. Having that matter outstanding has been an
ongoing source of unnecessary stress in my life.

Is everything you sent the state copied below?

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

On Oct 10, 2026, at 3:43 PM, Brendan McMillion brendanmcmillion@gmail.com > wrote:

<2023 H1 - 460A.pdf><410 paper copy.pdf><2022 H2 - 460.pdf><2023 H1 -
460.pdf><2022 H2 - 460A.pdf><2024 H1 - 460.pdf><2023 H2 - 460.pdf><2024 H2

  • 460.pdf><2025 H1 - 460.pdf><2025 H2 - 460.pdf><2026 H1 - 460.pdf>

On Nov 7, 2026, at 10:04 PM, Brendan McMillion brendanmcmillion@gmail.com > wrote:

Hi both

I’ve been working on a chatbot for discussing libertarianism, specifically
LPSF policies. It’s been helpful in the past for me to gut-check my own
policy ideas by talking them through with AI. But the main reason I’ve
been working on this is that I think it would be really valuable to have
such a chatbot on our website for anyone who visits to talk to.

Conversations with chatbots have been clinically proven to durably change
people’s beliefs. That’s because chatbots are very effective at providing
neutral and fact-based arguments, and tailoring those arguments to the
person they’re speaking to. Disclosing that a chatbot is programmed
explicitly to persuade someone has been shown not to reduce its
effectiveness.

However, the chatbot needs to know what it is going to argue for, so I’ve
written this document:
LPSF Principles and Positions · GitHub

Would you mind reviewing this and letting me know if you agree with
adopting the proposed positions? Or if there’s anything missing that you
think should be added. Disregard the first line about “flyers, blog posts,
etc…”. The chatbot would obviously be good at those tasks too, in
addition to talking to people, but that’s not the primary interest for now.

Thank you!

3

I would prefer non-Google (non-big-tech-company) platforms where they are possible/available. I actually posted to the LPC Website & Information Technology Committee (WITCom) email list (which you’re also on) within the past few weeks about a Google Docs alternative I heard about recently. Don’t recall the name of it now, but if you got that email maybe you can check it out as a possible better option?

To which state website are you referring? Please include the direct link, if there’s a page where we can see LPSF listings online.

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

···

On Nov 9, 2026, at 1:30 PM, Brendan McMillion brendanmcmillion@gmail.com wrote:

Human interaction is of course important too. This is for people that are only maybe passingly interested in libertarianism, though. Not enough to come to a meeting or even participate in a forum. You talk to this, it gets you on board a bit more.

For edits, is Google Docs fine?

Everything I sent to the state was attached and is also on their website.

On Mon, Nov 9, 2026, 12:09 PM Starchild <sfdreamer@earthlink.net mailto:sfdreamer@earthlink.net> wrote:

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for your work on this. Having a chatbot could be helpful for the reasons you mention, though I don’t think it’s a substitute for real human interaction, and wouldn’t want it to come across as us saying “Talk to the hand”.

If we make the option available for those who’d like to learn more about libertarianism by interacting with a chatbot, I agree we should have a transparent document like this which lays out the algorithm or guidelines on which it operates. I’ve suggested something similar for the national LP, and indeed using an AI might make more sense at scale at the national level. On the other hand, there’s some logic in trying it at the local level first as a kind of pilot program.

There’s a lot of content at the link you’ve sent – much of it looks good but I do have input/concerns about some of the wording, would like to flesh some issues out, etc. If you post this somewhere that it is editable, I will add suggested changes. On a related matter, I recently made some edits to the issues page on the LPSF website – Issues | Libertarian Party of San Francisco.

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

P.S. – Did you receive my follow-up message about the PayPal account and filings below, from several weeks ago (below)? I haven’t seen a response to the question therein.

On Oct 10, 2026, at 7:26 PM, Starchild <sfdreamer@earthlink.net mailto:sfdreamer@earthlink.net> wrote:

Brendan,

Thank you for finally returning the LPSF’s funds, and turning over the PayPal account to our treasurer. Having that matter outstanding has been an ongoing source of unnecessary stress in my life.

Is everything you sent the state copied below?

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

On Oct 10, 2026, at 3:43 PM, Brendan McMillion <brendanmcmillion@gmail.com mailto:brendanmcmillion@gmail.com> wrote:

<2023 H1 - 460A.pdf><410 paper copy.pdf><2022 H2 - 460.pdf><2023 H1 - 460.pdf><2022 H2 - 460A.pdf><2024 H1 - 460.pdf><2023 H2 - 460.pdf><2024 H2 - 460.pdf><2025 H1 - 460.pdf><2025 H2 - 460.pdf><2026 H1 - 460.pdf>

On Nov 7, 2026, at 10:04 PM, Brendan McMillion <brendanmcmillion@gmail.com mailto:brendanmcmillion@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi both

I’ve been working on a chatbot for discussing libertarianism, specifically LPSF policies. It’s been helpful in the past for me to gut-check my own policy ideas by talking them through with AI. But the main reason I’ve been working on this is that I think it would be really valuable to have such a chatbot on our website for anyone who visits to talk to.

Conversations with chatbots have been clinically proven to durably change people’s beliefs. That’s because chatbots are very effective at providing neutral and fact-based arguments, and tailoring those arguments to the person they’re speaking to. Disclosing that a chatbot is programmed explicitly to persuade someone has been shown not to reduce its effectiveness.

However, the chatbot needs to know what it is going to argue for, so I’ve written this document: LPSF Principles and Positions · GitHub

Would you mind reviewing this and letting me know if you agree with adopting the proposed positions? Or if there’s anything missing that you think should be added. Disregard the first line about “flyers, blog posts, etc…”. The chatbot would obviously be good at those tasks too, in addition to talking to people, but that’s not the primary interest for now.

Thank you!

4

Here is an editable link:
Proton Drive – Click the dropdown
in the top right and select “Suggesting” so your edits versus the current
text are clear

I was referring to Cal-Access:
https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1375248&session=2025&view=electronic

Best

···

On Mon, Nov 9, 2026 at 3:33 PM Starchild sfdreamer@earthlink.net wrote:

I would prefer non-Google (non-big-tech-company) platforms where they are
possible/available. I actually posted to the LPC Website & Information
Technology Committee (WITCom) email list (which you’re also on) within the
past few weeks about a Google Docs alternative I heard about recently.
Don’t recall the name of it now, but if you got that email maybe you can
check it out as a possible better option?

To which state website are you referring? Please include the direct link,
if there’s a page where we can see LPSF listings online.

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

On Nov 9, 2026, at 1:30 PM, Brendan McMillion brendanmcmillion@gmail.com > wrote:

Human interaction is of course important too. This is for people that are
only maybe passingly interested in libertarianism, though. Not enough to
come to a meeting or even participate in a forum. You talk to this, it gets
you on board a bit more.

For edits, is Google Docs fine?

Everything I sent to the state was attached and is also on their website.

On Mon, Nov 9, 2026, 12:09 PM Starchild sfdreamer@earthlink.net wrote:

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for your work on this. Having a chatbot could be helpful for the
reasons you mention, though I don’t think it’s a substitute for real human
interaction, and wouldn’t want it to come across as us saying “Talk to the
hand”.

If we make the option available for those who’d like to learn more about
libertarianism by interacting with a chatbot, I agree we should have a
transparent document like this which lays out the algorithm or guidelines
on which it operates. I’ve suggested something similar for the national LP,
and indeed using an AI might make more sense at scale at the national
level. On the other hand, there’s some logic in trying it at the local
level first as a kind of pilot program.

There’s a lot of content at the link you’ve sent – much of it looks good
but I do have input/concerns about some of the wording, would like to flesh
some issues out, etc. If you post this somewhere that it is editable, I
will add suggested changes. On a related matter, I recently made some edits
to the issues page on the LPSF website – Issues | Libertarian Party of San Francisco.

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

P.S. – Did you receive my follow-up message about the PayPal account and
filings below, from several weeks ago (below)? I haven’t seen a response to
the question therein.

On Oct 10, 2026, at 7:26 PM, Starchild sfdreamer@earthlink.net wrote:

Brendan,

Thank you for finally returning the LPSF’s funds, and turning over the
PayPal account to our treasurer. Having that matter outstanding has been an
ongoing source of unnecessary stress in my life.

Is everything you sent the state copied below?

Love & Liberty,

((( starchild )))

On Oct 10, 2026, at 3:43 PM, Brendan McMillion < >> brendanmcmillion@gmail.com> wrote:

<2023 H1 - 460A.pdf><410 paper copy.pdf><2022 H2 - 460.pdf><2023 H1 -
460.pdf><2022 H2 - 460A.pdf><2024 H1 - 460.pdf><2023 H2 - 460.pdf><2024 H2

  • 460.pdf><2025 H1 - 460.pdf><2025 H2 - 460.pdf><2026 H1 - 460.pdf>

On Nov 7, 2026, at 10:04 PM, Brendan McMillion < >> brendanmcmillion@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi both

I’ve been working on a chatbot for discussing libertarianism,
specifically LPSF policies. It’s been helpful in the past for me to
gut-check my own policy ideas by talking them through with AI. But the
main reason I’ve been working on this is that I think it would be really
valuable to have such a chatbot on our website for anyone who visits to
talk to.

Conversations with chatbots have been clinically proven to durably change
people’s beliefs. That’s because chatbots are very effective at providing
neutral and fact-based arguments, and tailoring those arguments to the
person they’re speaking to. Disclosing that a chatbot is programmed
explicitly to persuade someone has been shown not to reduce its
effectiveness.

However, the chatbot needs to know what it is going to argue for, so I’ve
written this document:
LPSF Principles and Positions · GitHub

Would you mind reviewing this and letting me know if you agree with
adopting the proposed positions? Or if there’s anything missing that you
think should be added. Disregard the first line about “flyers, blog posts,
etc…”. The chatbot would obviously be good at those tasks too, in
addition to talking to people, but that’s not the primary interest for now.

Thank you!