JAPAN: A new political development has emerged in Japan, where an upstart political party, Path to Rebirth, announced on Tuesday that it will appoint an artificial intelligence as its leader. This follows the resignation of the party’s founder, Shinji Ishimaru, after a disappointing performance in recent elections.
The party, which was founded in January by Ishimaru, a former mayor of a small city in western Japan, does not have a clear policy platform, and its members are free to set their own agendas. Despite Ishimaru’s successful online campaign that earned him second place in the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election, the party failed to secure any seats in the most recent upper house elections.
Koki Okumura, a doctoral student specializing in AI research, revealed the plan to appoint an AI as the new leader. Okumura, who will nominally take over the leadership, stated that the AI’s role would not involve directing political activities but would focus on resource distribution and other organizational decisions. The specific details regarding how and when the AI will be implemented remain undecided.
While the move has garnered attention, the Path to Rebirth party has struggled to gain political traction. In the June Tokyo assembly elections, all 42 of its candidates lost, and the party also failed to secure any seats in the July upper house elections.
