Is this the future?
Candidate and AI bot come in 4th in Cheyenne’s mayoral primary
Cheyenne mayoral candidate Victor Miller lost a crucial primary election but said the race served as an introduction to the potential “role of AI in public administration.”
A candidate running for the mayor of Cheyenne in the US state of Wyoming with an artificial intelligence bot has lost the primary election.
In results announced by Laramie County on Aug. 20, officials tabulated that nonpartisan candidate Victor Miller and his AI bot VIC — Virtual Integrated Citizen — got 327 votes from Cheyenne residents out of the roughly 11,000 cast in a primary election. Incumbent Patrick Collins, who has served as mayor of the Wyoming capital city since 2021, and Rick Coppinger will advance to the November general election.
“As the first person to put artificial intelligence directly on the ballot, offering voters the novel choice of AI governance, our campaign has marked a historic moment in politics and technology,” said Miller in an Aug. 20 concession statement. “I served merely as the necessary human interface to get this new form of intelligence on the ballot, since current laws don’t allow AI to run independently.”
Wyoming officials challenged Miller’s introduction of the AI bot after he registered for the mayoral race. Though state officials allowed his name to appear on the ballot, Miller asked residents to consider the bot when casting their votes, updating its name to Virtual Integrated Citizen, The Official Robot — i.e., VICTOR.
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