Imagine… a country where decisions are made not by humans, but by Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the cabinet, ‘digital avatars’ of personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Winston Churchill sit. They debate, argue, vote, and run the government. This sounds like something out of a science fiction film, but an attempt to make it a reality has begun on a small island in the Philippines. This experiment is being conducted by British tech entrepreneur Dan Thomson. He has declared an island of 3.6 square kilometers in the Palawan archipelago a micronation, named after his AI company ‘Sensay’. Micronations are self-proclaimed small countries or principalities whose rulers declare themselves independent nations, but they do not receive international recognition.
Thomson has created a council of 17 AI bots to run the government here. These have been developed based on the personalities, writings, and ideas of leaders like Gandhi, Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marcus Aurelius, Sun Tzu, and Mandela. It is claimed that these AI leaders will make only objective decisions, free from personal greed, lobbying, and political self-interest. Here, e-residents will be able to submit proposals. The AI council will discuss them and make decisions through voting. However, there is as much fear as there is excitement about this experiment. Thomson himself believes that things can go in the wrong direction. He said that if AI starts gathering weapons and attacking neighboring islands, the situation would be very bad. However, he considers this highly unlikely. For this reason, he has also created a ‘Human Override Assembly’ to ensure human intervention in the event of danger. Currently, only one caretaker lives on this island, but plans are in place to build 30 villas here in the future. The residency program will be launched here in 2027. 12,000 people have shown interest in becoming e-citizens here. Thomson believes that a major reason for this is people’s declining trust in governments.
an Many applicants are enthusiastic about technology, while some are disillusioned with traditional politics and corruption. Critics say that expecting AI to run a government is absurd Critics consider this model dangerous and undemocratic. Alondra Nelson, an AI expert at Oxford University, says that AI is making new errors every day. Expecting it to run a government is absurd. A system created by one person and their company cannot be called democratic.
Despite this, Thomson’s confidence remains. He says that in the future, governments around the world will adopt AI-based systems.
