The coming AI President

It’s almost a cliché already, and it hasn’t even happened yet. That’s how sure people are that it’s going to happen.

A synthetically created walking, sitting, talking President whose policy positions are precise and calculated to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.

People vote for the President, but only in reference to what he should look like. A throwback? John F Kennedy? Ronald Reagan? Lincoln? FDR?

A likeness of a current or recent human? Gavin Newsom? Trump? Biden? Fauci?

Or you can choose from a menu of archetypal images invented out of thin air. Full-blown tranny drag queen? Black power leader? Sickly nerd? Tall bald-dome Silicon Valley TED-talk speaker? Prototype NFL quarterback? Tattooed biker? Neat analytical anal retentive spinal surgeon? Honduran immigrant with 43 previous arrests?

Because in politics, looks are everything.

Major public controversies will center around whether the AI President looks like the right kind of President.

Of course, flaws will have to be built in. People expect that. Suspected bribery schemes. Promises made and unkept. At least one felon in the immediate family. Past sexual dalliance.

But all in all, the AI President is a machine. People will find comfort in that.