A nonpartisan mayoral candidate who ran in Tuesday’s primary election in Cheyenne, Wyoming, has promised voters that he would allow an OpenAI artificial intelligence bot to make decisions for the city.
In a Laramie County press release published in July, officials clarified that 42-year-old Victor Miller would be listed alongside five other candidates running for Cheyenne’s mayor amid concerns of an artificial intelligence candidate running for office. The press release noted, “there is no Artificial Intelligence (AI) candidate running for office in Laramie County.”
However, The Washington Post reported that Miller recently appeared at a meet-and-greet event, which featured a lectern with the words “AI FOR MAYOR.” The 42-year-old candidate explained that if he was elected, he would allow the city to be run by an artificial intelligence bot called “VIC” or Virtual Integrated Citizen.”
According to The Washington Post, Miller claimed that the artificial intelligence bot would allow the city to be governed objectively and without mistakes. However, the outlet reported that Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray cited “significant concerns” in June with allowing the artificial intelligence bot to appear on the ballot since an elector “must be a real person.”
Nevertheless, Cheyenne City Clerk Kristina Jones stated that Miller was still listed as “the candidate for election per his application” even if he decided to “receive direction from an AI bot.”
READ MORE: Video: New AI-powered robots revealed
Miller told The Washington Post that if was elected, he would attend in-person events but would allow the artificial intelligence bot to serve as the city’s executive and would allow the bot to make legislative decisions.
The Washington Post reported that Miller originally applied for “VIC” to appear as the candidate’s name on the application.
Noting that the artificial intelligence bot could not appear as a candidate on the ballot, Laramie County officials said, “To allow VIC to be listed as a candidate would both violate Wyoming law and create voter confusion. 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.”
Rick Coppinger, who ran against Miller in Tuesday’s primary election, told The Washington Post, “If people believe AI will run their city better than human intervention, then we have issues.”
Throughout his campaign, Miller experienced backlash from OpenAI. The company shut down public operation of “VIC” for violation of the companies policies that prevent artificial intelligence technology from being used for political campaigning. According to The Washington Post, OpenAI later completely shut down Miller’s account access; however, the mayoral candidate created another account and developed a second “VIC” bot.
News Nation reported that Miller officially lost his campaign on Tuesday, preventing the city from being governed by an artificial intelligence bot.
