Hybrid human-AI candidate makes bid for city council in São Paulo

A few weeks ago, we wrote about two AI bots running for office. Now, joining AI Steve in Brighton and chatbot VIC in Cheyenne is Pedro Markun in São Paulo. Markun, a self-described hacker, technology activist and political innovator, has launched a pre-campaign for São Paulo's city council. He's doing so in partnership with a large language model called Lex, which was developed specifically for this campaign. The human/AI hybrid candidacy aims to deliver unprecedented governance skills by combining Markun's experience in civic technology with Lex's data analysis and policy formulation capabilities.

The campaign presents Lex as the first legislative AI in Brazil, designed to analyze data, draft public policy, monitor contracts and interact directly with citizens. The AI promises to enhance various aspects of city governance, including access to municipal resources and transparency in public spending. Markun and Lex's joint candidacy, running under the Sustainability Network party, seeks to bring innovation to São Paulo's politics to ensure all voices are heard and decisions are based on in-depth, objective analysis. The pre-campaign is currently seeking financial backers and will offer contributors early access to test Lex.