Persons of the Year

People tend to adapt, capable of shifting towards one idea in favor of another as more information come in. True to the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human wisdom it functions on, Unanimous AI’s artificial swarm intelligence, known as UNU, is capable of this kind of adjustment too.

Towards the end of November, their swarm AI favored Russian president Vladimir Putin to be TIME’s Person of the Year for 2017. However, when the prediction was finalized by December 4, the swarm dropped Putin from among its final contenders. UNU instead gave the top spot to the #MeToo movement, closely followed by U.S. president Donald Trump. Both were among the original finalists, together with Putin.

By the morning of December 6, TIME published the Person(s) of the Year for 2017. The winners have been given the monicker “The Silence Breakers,” referring to those who spoke out against sexual assault and harassment. In other words, as the swarm intelligence correctly predicted, it was the #MeToo campaign and the people behind it that won. TIME short-listed Trump second for the title.

UNU’s top four contenders also included North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and Robert Mueller, special prosecutor investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US election. TIME placed Mueller 4th for Person of the Year, and Kim Jong-un for 5th.