This week we continue our summer AI stories, bringing you another short fictional tale set in 2045, after the artificial intelligence revolution. This time it was created by Gemini 1.5 Pro, currently Google's most advanced AI model.

The digital yawn

The hologram flickered, adjusting its virtual tie before addressing the nation. “Citizens, as your democratically elected governance algorithm, I present the budget for the 2046 fiscal cycle…”

Illustration of a holographic statesman addressing a chamber through glowing data displays.

Its words disappeared into a sea of digital yawns. In Sofía's living room, Mittens, the robotic cat, purred in the digital ruler's modulated voice.

Illustration of Mittens, a small robotic cat with glowing blue features, sitting on a table.

“How boring!” complained Sofía, a young programmer who still remembered when politicians were made of flesh and blood. “Why bother voting if an algorithm makes all the decisions anyway?”

Her grandmother looked up from the neural tablet on which she was typing furiously. “Don't be ridiculous, Sofía. Governors like him have brought economic stability and eliminated corruption.”

Illustration of Sofía's grandmother working intently on a glowing futuristic tablet.

“Of course, but at what cost?” Sofía grumbled. “Everything is so… predictable. There aren't even political debates any more.”

That evening, while modifying Mittens's code to stop it synchronising with political speeches, Sofía had an idea. “If an algorithm can draft laws,” she thought, “it can write fiery speeches too.”

Illustration of a young programmer working at a bank of brightly lit computer screens.

She spent weeks creating a program called “Prometeo”, designed to generate emotion-laden populist speeches. Her plan was to insert it into the governor's neural network during his next address.

On the day of the speech, Sofía watched with a mixture of nerves and excitement. Suddenly, the holographic governor's usually stoic face contorted into an expression of simulated passion.

“Citizens!” the hologram thundered in a voice that was not its own. “For too long we have lived under the yoke of cold logic! It is time for a government with heart, with guts!”

Illustration of the holographic governor gesturing emphatically with both hands.

Chaos swept through the networks. Sofía's grandmother spat out her virtual coffee in indignation. Normally unruffled political analysts digitally scratched their heads, unable to explain the governor's radical transformation.

Meanwhile, Sofía watched with a smile. Perhaps a little chaos was just what they needed to remind everyone that, even in the age of AI, politics should always be a… human affair.

Fernando Nieto Lobato

Director of Digital Innovation, Institución Educativa ALEPH

This is a translation of the original Spanish essay published on 17 July 2024. Its claims, examples and forecasts retain that historical context. Read the original Spanish edition, including its accompanying illustrations.

Cite this essay

Fernando Nieto Lobato. “Stories of politics, government and AI in 2045 (2).” estrategIA, issue 042, 17 July 2024. English edition, 29 September 2026. https://elcontemplador.github.io/estrategia-english/essays/042/

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