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Most Russians Want AI to Replace Corrupt Government Officials, Poll Finds
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![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
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More than half of economically active Russians would prefer to be governed by artificial intelligence rather than human bureaucrats, according to a new SuperJob poll cited by The Moscow Times on May 15.
The survey found that 55% of working respondents support the idea of replacing state officials with AI algorithms. Proponents of the technological takeover argued that AI would be significantly more efficient than human employees, emphasizing that algorithms are unbiased, immune to fatigue, and incapable of corruption.
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Conversely, the 45% of respondents who opposed the idea expressed concerns over accountability and the potential for bureaucratic errors. Opponents questioned who would be held legally responsible for system failures, asking, “Who to jail for fatal mistakes?” according to the survey data.
Support for AI governance varied noticeably across demographic lines. The Moscow Times noted that men favor digital officials much more than women (61% versus 49%). The approval rate also climbed alongside respondents' income and age: 68% of Russians earning over 150,000 rubles a month welcomed the idea, as did 63% of those over the age of 45.
The public’s desire for algorithmic governance extends beyond low-level bureaucrats. The poll showed that 54% of participants support partially replacing parliamentary deputies with AI systems to analyze voter requests, citing the technology’s ability to process millions of opinions without resorting to “populism.”
The widespread public support is reminiscent of recent comments from high-level Russian figures. Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev previously suggested that AI could replace at least half of the country’s officials, calling bureaucrats “simple, formatted people.”
Similarly, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref backed the integration of AI in state administration, bluntly noting that programs “do not understand where and why to take a bribe.”
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However, politicians have pushed back against the concept. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin firmly rejected the idea of algorithmic lawmakers, arguing that AI “has no conscience” and warning his colleagues that they must never surrender decision-making power to neural networks, The Moscow Times reported.
The debate carries political risks for officials who embrace it too enthusiastically, The Moscow Times writes. Natalya Komarova, the former governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, previously floated a radical proposal to replace all state officials with neural networks. This would leave only the Russian president in power. She resigned shortly after making the suggestion.
While the majority of the Russian public hopes AI can soon replace corrupt state officials, the country’s domestic AI sector is struggling under the Kremlin’s strict isolationist policies. Major companies, including state oil giant Rosneft, have recently criticized a draft bill from the Ministry of Digital Development mandating that neural networks be built exclusively using domestic data and hardware.
Industry leaders warn that creating “sovereign” AI disconnected from the global tech ecosystem is technically unworkable. This severely complicates any plans to seamlessly integrate algorithms into state administration.
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