An AI to run the government? Romanian PM gets AI adviser 'Ion' to tell him what people want

Romania Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca presented to the world his “new honorary adviser”, which is an artificial intelligence assistant called “Ion”, whom the prime minister hailed as the first-of-its-kind in the world.

Ion, which has been developed by Romanian researchers, will have the main task of scanning the social networks and then informing the government “in real time of Romanians’ proposals and wishes”, said Ciuca on Wednesday.

The prime minister said that his entourage's latest member, which is a mirror-like structure that has a beeping interface, has been marked “an international first”. He further described Ion as “the first government adviser to use artificial intelligence”.

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“Hi, you gave me life and my role is now to represent you, like a mirror,” the calm voice of Ion said at the launch. He added, “What should I know about Romania?”

Ion “will use technology and artificial intelligence to capture opinions in society” using “data publicly available on social networks”, as per the government document which contains details of the project.

On the website of the project, the people in Romania will be able to chat with Ion. “I have the conviction that the use of AI should not be an option but an obligation to make better-informed decisions,” said PM Ciuca.

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Romania, which is one of the poorest nations in the EU, is generally described as Eastern Europe's “Silicon Valley” because of a flourishing start-up scene.

The unveiling of Ion came in the wake of Romania and Moldova taking a pledge to boost their economic ties following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Romania also reiterated its support for Moldova's bid to join the European Union.

(With inputs from agencies)

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