Latino group's election AI tool, Nubi, launches with few public details on sources and data

Mi Familia en Acción, a national Latino civic engagement organization, has launched Nubi, a bilingual artificial intelligence assistant that answers questions in English and Spanish about voter registration, voting, citizenship and legal rights. The group rolled out the tool in early October and posted its launch announcement Oct. 5, less than a month before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

The organization describes Nubi as a nonpartisan “civic participation coach” available 24 hours a day and says its information is accurate and reliable. What it has made public so far, however, leaves several questions open that matter for any tool giving people election information: which sources it relies on, how its answers are checked, and what happens to what users type into it.

What the group says

According to Axios, Nubi does not search the open internet. Héctor Sánchez Barba, the group’s president and CEO, told Axios the organization feeds the tool information from sources it considers reliable, with human review and guardrails limiting what it can answer. When Nubi does not have an answer, Axios reported, it is designed to say so and point users to a trusted source rather than generate one. The group told Axios the tool works in all 50 states, can tailor answers to the local level, does not recommend candidates or causes, and will be updated as voting rules and court decisions change.

On privacy, Sánchez Barba said in a Univision interview that the tool does not keep users’ personal information. The group’s launch announcement says Nubi was built with “strong privacy protections.”

The organization financed the tool itself and declined to tell Axios what it cost. Denis Cook, the group’s chief innovation officer, is named in the announcement as Nubi’s developer.

What has not been published

The launch announcement and the Ask Nubi page do not list the sources Nubi draws on, describe any accuracy testing or independent evaluation, or name the AI model or technology vendors behind it. Neither explains how often state and local election information is refreshed, although rules such as early-voting hours and ballot deadlines vary by state and county.

The Ask Nubi page links only to the organization’s general privacy policy, which does not mention Nubi or AI chat data. That policy, whose text is dated Jan. 1, 2024, says the group collects contact, demographic and civic-participation information and may share data with service providers and coalition partners under confidentiality agreements. It also says the organization does not sell or rent personal data.

None of this shows that Nubi gives inaccurate answers or mishandles data, and no such problems have been reported. It does mean users cannot independently check the claims the group makes about the tool’s accuracy, how current it is and how it treats conversations.

Where to confirm voting information

Voters can confirm registration status, deadlines and polling places through their state or local election office, which can be found through Vote.gov.