A small political party in Japan is taking the concept of artificial intelligence in politics to a new level: it wants a chatbot penguin to lead the party.
The party, Path to Rebirth, revealed the plan after disappointing election results prompted founder Shinji Ishimaru to step down. The new human leader, Koki Okumura, a 25-year-old AI doctoral student at Kyoto University, announced that the party would entrust decision-making to an AI, while he serves as its assistant, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
Okumura said the AI will appear as a penguin avatar, reflecting Japan’s fondness for animals. “The party will entrust decision-making to AI,” he explained. “It has the potential to achieve things with greater precision than humans, and consider voices often overlooked by people, creating a more inclusive environment for political participation.”
The AI will not run for office, as Japanese law requires party representatives to be human citizens. A preparatory committee is reportedly being formed, though the penguin’s appearance has yet to be revealed.
The party was founded in January 2025, advocating that anyone interested in politics should have a chance to participate. Ishimaru, a former mayor, gained notoriety after coming second in last year’s Tokyo gubernatorial race but resigned after the party failed to win seats in local or national elections.
While Japan has been embracing AI to tackle issues like workforce shortages and bureaucratic inefficiencies, political analysts say voters are unlikely to embrace a fully AI-led party. Hiroshi Shiratori, political science professor at Hosei University, told CNN: “Voters choose someone they can rely on. AI is totally apart from that. This approach risks making all parties similar, which is anti-democratic by nature.”
Okumura is not alone in experimenting with AI in politics. In 2024, AI chatbots were put forward as candidates in the US and UK, but legal restrictions prevented them from holding office. Experts warn that AI cannot replace human judgment in politics, as societal goals and values are subjective and complex.
Still, Okumura sees the experiment as a necessary step toward integrating AI into social and political systems. “We want to be the first to conduct that experiment at the cutting edge,” he said.
