Robot candidate in Japan vows ‘fair and balanced’ policies for aging population

by WorldTribune Staff, April 17, 2018

The candidate seeking to become the first robot mayor in Japan is promising “fair and balanced opportunities for everyone.”

The robot’s campaign is plastered across vehicles in the west Tokyo city.

The robot, with an all-silver body and what appear to be female features, has been nominated to run for mayor of Tama City in west Tokyo against a slate of high-ranking local politicians.

The robot candidate also promises to analyze petitions put forward to the city’s council, statistically breaking down the positives and negatives of the petitions, according to a report by Otaquest.

Citizens in Tama City would not vote for the AI Mayor, as robots cannot technically run for office, but will instead vote for the human, Michihito Matsuda, who came up with the idea of a robot mayoral nominee.

Matsuda said the robot would, as mayor, be capable of taking in the dialogue and wishes of residents before calculating the best course of action.

Matsuda said: “Tama New Town was the most advanced city in Japan 40 years ago. As it stands, the aging population will only continue to grow, prompting a need for change in the current administration. Let artificial intelligence determine policies by gathering city data and we can create clearly defined politics.”


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