Voters in Wyoming’s capital city on Tuesday are faced with deciding whether to elect a mayoral candidate who has proposed to let an artificial intelligence bot run the local government.
Earlier this year, the candidate in question – Victor Miller – filed for him and his customized ChatGPT bot, named Vic (Virtual Integrated Citizen), to run for mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming. He has vowed to helm the city’s business with the AI bot if he wins.
Miller has said that the bot is capable of processing vast amounts of data and making unbiased decisions.
In what AI experts say is a first for US political campaigns, Miller and Vic have told local news outlets in interviews that their form of proposed governance is a “hybrid approach”.
The AI bot told Your Wyoming Link that its role would be to provide data-driven insights and innovative solutions for Cheyenne. Meanwhile, Vic said, the human elected office contender, Miller, would serve as the official mayor if chosen by voters and would ensure that “all actions are legally and practically executed”.
“It’s about blending AI’s capabilities with human judgment to effectively lead Cheyenne,” the bot said. The bot said it did not have political affiliations – and its goal is to “focus on data-driven practical solutions that benefit the community”.
During a meet-and-greet this summer, the Washington Post reported that the AI bot was asked how it would go about making decisions “according to human factor, involving humans, and having to make a decision that affects so many people”.
“Making decisions that affect many people requires a careful balance of data-driven insights and human empathy,” the AI bot responded, according to an audio recording obtained and published by the Washington Post. Vic then ran through a multi-part plan that suggested using AI technology to gather data on public opinion and feedback from the community, holding town hall meetings to listen to residents’ concerns, consulting experts in relevant fields, evaluating the human impact of the decision and providing transparency about the decision-making.
According to Wyoming Public Media, Miller has also pledged that he would donate half the mayoral salary to a non-profit if he is elected. The other half could be used to continually improve the AI bot, he said.
Miller has faced some skepticism and pushback since announcing his mayoral run as well as his unusual proposed approach to leading Cheyenne.
Earlier this summer, Wyoming’s top elections official, the secretary of state, Chuck Gray, launched an investigation into whether the bot could appear on the ballot. Gray has said only registered voters can run for local or statewide elections under Wyoming law.
In a 10 June letter to the Cheyenne city clerk, Gray said he believed the AI bot’s application for nomination ought to be rejected, arguing that one must be a real person to be a qualified elector.
“Wyoming law is clear than an AI bot cannot run for office,” Gray wrote.
City officials in Cheyenne disagreed with Gray. They said that even if Miller is receiving advice or direction from the bot, he was still the candidate for the election rather than the AI bot, according to the Washington Post.
Shortly thereafter, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, reportedly shut down Miller’s account. The company said it thought that the state of Wyoming had taken Miller off the ballot and also cited policies against using its products for campaigning, the Washington Post reported.
But Miller is said to have quickly made another account and built another custom bot.
On 5 July, the clerk of Laramie county, which includes Cheyenne, announced that Miller would be allowed to continue his mayoral campaign – but only his name and not Vic’s would appear on the official ballot.
“To allow VIC to be listed as a candidate would both violate Wyoming law and create voter confusion,” county clerk Debra Lee wrote. “VIC is not a registered voter. Therefore, VIC cannot run for office in Wyoming and the name does not appear on Laramie county’s official ballot.”
Earlier this year, there was a similar attempt in England to have an AI bot run as a political candidate. That bot, named Steve, was a candidate for the British parliament in Brighton but failed to become the UK’s first AI member of parliamentary.
Miller has sought to make clear that Vic would be doing 100% “of the decision-making completely on its own” if voters backed him in Tuesday’s primary election.
“AI is on the ballot for mayor of Cheyenne,” Miller said in a post on X. “That’s a stone-cold fact.
He added: “Cheyenne, go out there and make your choice. But realize there’s a new option this time around. There’s a new intelligence in town.”
He added: “It’s time to embrace the future. It’s time to get drunk on intelligence.”
Miller’s mayoral campaign is not the only recent, prominent Wyoming-based news story involving AI. A Wyoming newspaper reporter resigned after an investigation determined that he had used quotes fabricated by AI technology, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Wyoming Public Radio reported that the journalist’s resignation appeared to constitute the first known news fabrication media scandal involving AI.
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