In an unusual twist, the mayoral elections race in Cheyenne, Wyoming, has witnessed an unconventional candidate called Victor Miller, who plans to make an AI chatbot called VIC (Virtual Integrated Citizen) govern the City if elected. It has led to the creation of an unconventional political campaign, and the much-debated subject of AI in politics means that the future of leadership in the digital world is questionable.
The people of Cheyenne, Wyoming’s second-largest City with a population of 65,000, are set to go to the polls on November 4, and they are in a position that could change the face of how local government is runing. Miller’s suggestion of a party leader as an AI is a daring idea that makes the voters and elected officials think critically about what it means to hand over the duties of governing a nation to a machine.
The unique partnership between Victor Miller and his AI, and why it matters
Victor Miller, a 42-year-old librarian without prior political experience, has developed his AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT 4. He thought that in VIC, the kind of decisions he would make included signing legislation and replying to emails from his people. At the same time, Miller would be seen physically as an observer and legislator for routine appearances and small business.
Miller points out that AI can entirely revolutionise local politics if it offers objective, efficient, and transparent decision-making. He, therefore, supposes that VIC would implement expeditious processing of raw data, such as City ordinances and public records, to produce informed, Bias-free decisions.
Miller sees himself as a meat shield for VIC, and the AI can interact with the natural world while vice takes up the expressive tasks of ruling. This hybrid human-machine relationship subverts mainstream politics and institutions of governance.
Legal and ethical considerations that could change the course of AI in politics
It has drawn criticism from the state procuratorate and technology firms. Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray spoke about the legal challenges of AI candidates, pointing to state laws that require candidates to be ‘real people.’
OpenAI, the firm that developed the ChatGPT platform, banned Miller from using their tool for political campaigning. Nonetheless, Miller has continued to fight openly, meaning that it is a progressive technology that poses different regulatory questions that politics has to address. This occurrence has established a gap in the present laws concerning elections and policies because these do not consider candidacy in artificial intelligence.
It also has solid ethical implications on equality, political representation and the impact of shareholders as non-human entities in a democratic society. Despite these challenges, Miller has not given up hinting that society must move to a discourse on the place of artificial intelligence in governance.
How Cheyenne’s residents are reacting to a future led by AI and what it could mean for governance
Through peaceable acceptance by some of Cheyenne’s residents and political analysts, while some consider it an exciting novelty in governance, others must puzzle about the feasibility and the advisability of an AI governance regime. The campaign thus raises crucial issues of leadership, responsibility, and the place of human discretion in the political processes.
It also highlights the dilemma of inadequate legal frameworks and Codes of Ethics and Ethical Standards as AI continues infiltrating the democratic process. Some citizens view big data as a way to make rational, economic, and sensible decisions. In contrast, the rest of the citizens negatively believe that efficiency will remove human emotions and judgment in governance. This division mirrors broader societal discussions regarding the growing application of AI in different spheres of life.
Therefore, when Cheyenne is about to hold the mayoral election, Victor Miller’s AI-focused campaign is an excellent example of how implementing modern innovation in politics might turn out. Overall, even if the chances of VIC securing a victory in the election remain ambiguous, the campaign has gained attention to discussing the growing interconnection between AI and politics.
In any case, this unprecedented candidacy raises essential questions about how new technologies may redefine democracy as we know it over the next few years. When they step into voting booths, they are not just choosing who should become their representative in the parliament, state, or City council, but whether artificial intelligence should dictate their future.
