AI vs. human leadership: Debate over plan to govern Cheyenne with AI

Artificial intelligence could soon be governing a city in the United States — at least if one American mayoral candidate has his way.

Victor Miller recently threw his hat into the ring for mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, pledging to manage the 65,000-person city exclusively with a generative AI bot he built himself — called VIC, or Virtual Integrated Citizen.

He argued that it could quickly scan heaps of municipal documents, summarize events and render error-free judgments in near real-time. Its rulings would also be objective — without fear of favor or influence from lobbyists — which would be good for democracy.

Tech-savvy Wyoming is arguably the most crypto-friendly state in the United States, so maybe it’s fitting that its capital city also has the first AI political candidate.