A robot has been nominated to run for the position of mayor in Tokyo, promising to be “fair and balanced” to all its constituents.
The mayoral election in Tama City features the usual high-ranking local politicians, as well as an artificial intelligence candidate competing alongside its human counterparts.
Posters plastered across the district feature the faces of smiling party leaders, with slogans promising change for the city.
And in line with election propaganda, the robot nominee, dubbed Michihito Matsuda, has branded vans, posters and inspirational soundbites.
The futuristic looking nominee appears female in her features, with an entirely silver body.
In a bid to offer “fair and balanced opportunities for everyone”, the robot mayor promises to analyse petitions put forward to the council, statistically breaking down the positives and negatives of its effect, as reported by Otaquest .
Michihito Matsuda also claims it can intake the dialogue and wishes of residents, before calculating the best course of action.
Finally, the artificial intelligence candidate claims to rationally compromise when conflicts arise between residents.
While the robot spearheads the bid to become the first artificial intelligence mayor, the campaign is actually controlled by two tech gurus, Tetsuzo Matsuda and Norio Murakami.
Matsumoto is the vice president of mobile provider Softbank, while Murakami is a former employee at Google Japan.
The tech pros have even designed a campaign website for Matsuda the robot.
Michihito Matsuda, 44, made an impassioned speech outlining his unusual political vision for the vast housing development which was built in the 1960s and is the largest in Japan.
Mr Matsuda said: “Tama New Town was the most advanced city in Japan 40 years ago. As it stands, the ageing 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.”
Original Article: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/robot-run-mayor-japan-world-12377782