The first artificial intelligence-aided political candidate, Victor Miller, lost his race in Cheyenne, Wyoming’s mayoral election on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The vote was a landslide for the incumbent mayoral candidate.
Of the more than 11,000 votes cast, Miller, who dubbed himself the “Meat Avatar” and ran alongside his AI bot he named “VIC,” wrangled in fewer than 330 votes on Tuesday. Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Patrick Collins easily won reelection with more than 6,200 votes.
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While Miller congratulated Collins on his victory, he called his own campaign, “historic,” “groundbreaking” and “remarkable.” He also said that he plans to go further with AI in government.
Miller announced the formation of the Rational Governance Alliance to expand on his idea to put AI directly “in charge of government decisions.” Miller’s ultimate goal is to have AI responsible for decision-making in public office while humans serve as “legal and physical intermediaries.”
Miller’s push for AI government and belief that the technology is better at making unbiased decisions than humans has drawn criticism. One Princeton professor likened Miller’s idea of AI governance to “replacing a car with a cardboard cutout of a car.”
In June, Miller faced a legal challenge to his run for mayor of Cheyenne. After Wyoming’s Secretary of state questioned Miller on the legality of his run, Miller was forced to put his own name on the ballot instead of his AI-bot VIC’s name on the ballot as the candidate.
However, Miller appears to remain undeterred, declaring AI “the future of democracy.”
