Philadelphia city council candidate says his secret AI has discovered disqualifying fraud in the nominations of 30 out of 33 candidates

Devon Cade -- a former bureaucrat who now describes himself as a "philanthropist" -- has asked a court to disqualify 30 out of the 33 other Democrats standing in the primary for the city's council elections on the grounds that the signatures on their nominating petitions were forged.

Cade claims that he detected the forgeries using a machine learning system that he will allow anyone to inspect, provided that they post a $1,000,000 insurance bond first ("due to the sensitivity of the software no person(s) will be allowed to physically touch the software/hardware without a one million dollar insurance bond").

Cade has made public assurances that his challenge will stand, posting a Facebook video in which he averred that "I don't think anyone can refudiate intelligence software."

The judge who reviews Cade's claims has discretion to force him to pay the legal costs of the 30 other candidates he has challenged if his claim is found to be lacking in merit.

"People were very, very upset with me," he said later. "But I don't understand why. I didn't file the paperwork to file their candidacy."

Cade on Thursday posted a Facebook video defending his challenges, declaring, "I don't think anyone can refudiate intelligence software." If that rings a bell, it's because former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was so roundly mocked for using refudiate in 2010 that the Oxford American Dictionary made it the word of the year.

Did 'artificial intelligence' spot petition fakes in City Council races? A judge will make the call. [Chris Brennan and Julia Terruso/Philadelphia Inquirer]

(Thanks, Kathy Padilla!)

(Image: Cryteria, CC-BY-SA)