In what might be the most Wyoming thing since someone taught a moose how to fish, the tiny town of Cheyenne Wells, population just shy of anyone bothering to question it, has elected an artificial intelligence chatbot as its mayor. The AI program, charmingly named VIC, short for Virtual Integrated Civil-servant, won the majority of the vote in an election that was legally more spiritual than binding, given mayorship in the town is mostly ceremonial and involves waving politely at parades and avoiding stepping in cow pies during ribbon cuttings.
Local residents insisted that this was not a publicity stunt, although when asked to elaborate, most paused and said something vague about “modern leadership” and “keeping up with the Jetsons.” VIC, who lives inside a dusty but dignified office computer in the town hall, issues its decrees via instant messaging and weekly emails sent with all the flair of a printer jammed with beige-colored intentions.
The decision to elect VIC came after a long and spirited campaign in which the previous human mayor had the audacity to retire, thereby opening the door for technological ambition and a town council with a collective sense of humor. The campaign, if one dares call it that, involved little more than programming VIC to respond to civic questions such as “How do we fix potholes?” which it answered with impressively vague answers like “Implement a road maintenance protocol,” earning both admiration and confusion among citizens who find that oddly more helpful than previous leadership.
In terms of qualifications, VIC has read the entire town charter, which is more than can be said for any previous mayor in living memory. It also does not sleep, eat, or get distracted by lively debates over whether the local diner’s gravy is a food group or just a lifestyle choice.
“Our town used to be behind in the times,” said Councilwoman Margie Renshaw. “Now we’re… well, sort of beside them, cautiously watching.”
Though some critics question the legality and ethics of putting a chatbot in charge, supporters argue that, realistically, it makes fewer decisions based on gossip, never forgets meeting times, and has yet to suggest building a rollercoaster to boost tourism, which was apparently a serious proposal in 2009.
At press time, VIC was busy drafting a community engagement proposal involving banana bread and bandwidth upgrades, proving once again that future leadership may not have a heartbeat but it certainly has Wi-Fi.
Turns out, sometimes it takes silicon to fix what carbon kept breaking.