Would You Vote For An AI Chatbot? Voters Have Opportunity To Elect AI Leaders In 2024

Experts believe artificial intelligence (AI) will surpass human intelligence in a matter of years. Could AI’s rapid ascent spell a change in governance, giving AI chatbots a place in the political system?

2024 AI Candidates: Voters in the U.K. and Wyoming will have a new, strange choice for leadership in 2024. Articles in Wired examined two chatbot candidacies for public office.

Victor Miller is running for mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming’s capital, promising to cede total control to his ChatGPT bot named “VIC.” VIC stands for “Virtually Integrated Citizen.” ChatGPT generated the acronym for Miller based on the first three letters of his name. ChatGPT is a product of OpenAI.

"I realized that this entity is way smarter than me, and more importantly, way better than some of the outward-facing public servants I see," Miller told Wired.

In a computer-generated response, VIC told Wired that its "policies will be focused on transparency, economic development and innovation by prioritizing open data and clear communication with citizens; fostering a strong local economy by supporting small businesses and startups; and embracing new technologies to improve public services and infrastructure."

Wyoming’s secretary of state is reportedly considering striking VIC’s application for candidacy from the ballot.

Businessman Steve Endacott has a similar project. In the U.K., his “Steve AI” is standing to be MP for Brighton and Hove as an independent.

Why it Matters: For obvious reasons, neither candidate is likely to win their respective races. However, their candidacies pose interesting questions about whether governing’s future will involve super-intelligent AIs.

Preliminary signs show that humans are not willing to cede control of their daily lives to artificial intelligence. A recent poll found that 66% of drivers are “afraid” of using self-driving cars, for instance.

AI’s potential to overpower human intelligence has been immortalized in science fiction media such as Stanley Kubrick‘s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Even if the prospect of AI governance is unpopular, human leaders are very unpopular too. Just 21% of U.K. citizens say they approve of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to YouGov.

Also Read: Tech’s AI-Driven Strength Over Dow’s Blue Chips Tops Dot-Com Era Peak: Are We In A New Bubble?

Photo: thanmano via Shutterstock