Dissatisfied voters have often wondered if a robot could do a better job than their elected politicians.
Now Colombians have a chance to find out for sure.
An AI avatar has entered the Latin American country’s 2026 congressional elections, due to be held on March 8.
The bot, called ‘Gaitana’, is aiming to win one of the seats reserved for the Indigenous communities.
The blue figure, with an artificially generated voice, is pumping out election material on social media.
For legal reasons, there is a human candidate registered on the electoral roll, with Gaitana acting as their digital representative.
But only the name ‘AI’ will appear on the ballot paper.
The AI politician is positioning itself as an ‘environmentalist’ and ‘animal rights advocate’.
The initiative is being spearheaded by Carlos Redondo Rincón, a membner of the Zenú people, and Alba Rincón.
They say their robot’s policy platform is drawn from the views of more than 10,000 online users.
The idea behind the iniative is to kickstart a new form of ‘digital democracy’.
This would see legislative proposals put to virtual voting by citizens before being presented to parliament.
The name ‘Gaitana’ references a 16th-century Indigenous leader who resisted Spanish colonisation.
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