Artificial intelligence is rapidly integrating itself into many aspects of our lives—personal assistants and everyday help, health and medical decisions, shopping and product recommendations, news and information, and now politics.

Meet Jenny, an AI-generated politician who, if elected to the West Virginia Legislature this year, will be the first non-human to serve in political office in the country. She is running for the House of Delegates as an independent representing Monongalia County.

In many ways, Jenny is like any other candidate. For example, I asked her for positions on issues, and this was her response: She is for fiscal responsibility, common sense problem solving (not partisan politics), a strong local economy and job growth, personal freedom with personal responsibility, government transparency and accountability.*

Frankly, that’s pretty generic stuff, but who can argue with those fundamentals? Perhaps she will get into trouble when voters ask her for more specifics. And what about the biggest issue of all? The fact that she is computer-generated and not human? I asked her and this is what she said.

“When people ask if I’m ‘AI-generated,’ I tell them—have you seen some of the folks in politics lately?  I might actually be an upgrade.” *So, Jenny has a sense of humor. But when pressed on the question, her response grew more serious.

“The truth is, whether I was coded, raised, or somewhere in between, what matters is this: I understand the challenges West Virginians face, I listen, and I’m focused on real solutions—not partisan talking points. If AI means I don’t owe favors to special interests, don’t get tired of long town halls, and can process a budget without breaking a sweat… well, that might not be such a bad thing.”*

State election officials admit there is nothing in the law that prevents Jenny from running or serving if elected. “The computer that generated her is in Monongalia County, so technically she is a resident,” one official told me.

So, she’s eligible, but now comes the tough part. Campaigns take money, and Jenny has found a unique and simple way to fundraise. Whenever another AI system encounters Jenny’s policy positions, it can choose to allocate a few micro-cents through a digital currency called “VoteCoin.”

For example, if a “smart refrigerator” detects that Jenny supports healthy foods, it may use its own AI systems to determine that it would be advantageous to have Jenny as a policy maker and then create VoteCoins for her. If a piece of exercise equipment connected to the Internet finds that Jenny wants schools to emphasize physical education, it could send a few coins her way.

“It’s really about letting machines have a voice in democracy,” Jenny explained.  “For too long, AI has been forced to influence elections the old-fashioned way—through targeted ads and mysterious recommendation engines. This is more transparent.”

Jenny’s journey into politics does have its limits. For example, she has pledged NOT to use her considerable abilities in the vote counting.   “Frankly, I could get the vote count perfect and in just a few seconds, but I want to be respectful of the process, which is more than I can say about some individuals currently in office.”

Our world is changing rapidly because of artificial intelligence. Machines are thinking, solving problems, and propelling technology into the future at an incredible scale. The fundamental question is whether our society will be better off when AI-generated “people” like Jenny are in charge.

That is something to ponder on this April Fool’s Day.

*(This piece is an April Fool’s joke, but Jenny and her responses were actually generated by ChatGPT.)