Japan's fringe party, the Path to Revival, announced this week that it will have an AI-powered penguin chatbot as its leader. Because election law requires candidates to be Japanese citizens, the party will only be represented legally by a human.
Japan's fringe party, the Path to Revival, announced this week that it will have an AI-powered penguin chatbot as its leader. Because election law requires candidates to be Japanese citizens, the party will only be represented legally by a human.
The new leader of the "Path to Revival" party will have the form of a penguin avatar, which is a hint at the Japanese love of animals, writes CNN.
The party plans for AI to eventually take over all decision-making processes related to their activities.
“In my opinion, it is able to work much more accurately than a human. This approach allows you to carefully consider opinions that people often overlook, which can create a more inclusive and humane environment for political participation,” said Koki Okumura, who won the party leadership race but said he would become an assistant to the AI chatbot, at a press conference.
There is currently no exact timeline for when the AI will take over, although Okumura said a preparatory committee is being formed. The penguin's appearance has not yet been revealed.
Observers have expressed reservations about Okumura's plan, noting that, like a real penguin, it may not "take off."
Hiroshi Shiratori, a political science professor at Hosei University in Tokyo, said Japanese voters are not yet ready for a party that relies so heavily on AI.
"Voters choose a person they can rely on, and they also choose a party that resonates with the feelings of the people," he told CNN. "Artificial intelligence is completely different from that."
He said Okumura's experiment is unlikely to become a broader trend, arguing that Japan is a pluralistic democracy that values diversity of views.
If political parties allow artificial intelligence to make all decisions, the professor noted, all parties could become similar, if not identical, which he called "inherently anti-democratic."
