Over half of Russians back replacing deputies with artificial intelligence

More than half of Russia’s inhabitants backed the idea of replacing deputies with artificial intelligence algorithms. This is according to a study by SuperJob, reports Gazeta.Ru.

The survey included 1600 respondents aged 18 and over from across Russia. 53% approved the idea of replacing deputies with the help of AI. The initiative proved popular among younger cohorts and men: 62% of those under 24 approved it.

The remaining 47% do not want algorithms to perform the work of deputies. They fear a “machine uprising”, opacity in decision-making, and possible fraud.

The views of Russian parliamentarians diverge from those of the citizens. Anton Gorelkin, a deputy and member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, says that people are too naive and do not understand their role.

“A deputy is, first and foremost, a representative […]. He is the conduit of their [electors’] political rights and demands to the very top of state administration,” he said.

Gorelkin added that algorithms can make decisions, but are not able to represent anyone.

First Deputy Chairman of the LDPR faction and a member of the Federation Council Vadim Dengin said he was categorically opposed to such initiatives.

“In my view, deputies, in most cases, representing the interests of citizens in parliament, indeed solve most problems. And when I was a deputy in the State Duma, I also turned to a large number of authorities and offices to solve people’s problems. AI will not do this,” the senator noted.

State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov also criticised the idea. In his view, AI cannot feel empathy, and human errors sometimes have a more positive impact than a robot’s meticulously calculated decision.

Technology experts are also skeptical about replacing parliamentarians with artificial intelligence. Promobot’s Chief Development Officer Oleg Kivokurtsev believes the technology can become an aid in decision-making, but the final word should remain with a human.

Foreign experts share similar views. In their view, a human-taught algorithm will not be able to make objective decisions. In developing AI models, people often impart their own biases. This can lead to the creation of unfair algorithms toward certain segments of the population, the experts warn.

In May 2021, researchers found that more than half of Europeans wanted to replace deputies with artificial intelligence .

In May, Sberbank head Herman Gref said that people should to prepare for job losses due to automation and master new professions.

Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman believes that machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence , but for now it is far from that.

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