A new Japanese political party announced on Tuesday that it will install an artificial intelligence (AI) as its new leader. This decision came after its founder resigned following a poor performance in recent elections.
The Path to Rebirth party, launched in January by Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of a small city in western Japan, operates without a formal policy platform, allowing its members to set their own agendas.
Ishimaru, who unexpectedly secured second place in the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election through a successful online campaign, left the party after it failed to win any seats in this year’s upper house elections.
“The new leader will be AI,” said Koki Okumura, a doctoral student in AI research who introduced himself as an assistant to the new leader, during a news conference.
Okumura, a 25-year-old student at Kyoto University who will serve as the party’s nominal leader, stated that details regarding the AI’s implementation, including the timeline and methods, are still being determined.
He explained that the AI will not dictate the political activities of its members but will instead focus on decisions such as the allocation of party resources among them. Okumura recently won a party contest to succeed Ishimaru.
Despite gaining media attention, the Path to Rebirth has struggled to win seats. All 42 of its candidates were unsuccessful in the June Tokyo assembly election, and its 10 candidates who ran in the upper house election in July also lost.
