Your Democratic Duty Awaits
Welcome to democracy in action! After carefully reviewing this year's spectacular collection of AI misadventures, it's time for you—the discerning public—to choose the People's Choice Winner of the 2025 AI Darwin Awards.
Each nominee has demonstrated remarkable commitment to ignoring obvious risks, exceptional faith in untested technology, and inspiring confidence that "surely nothing could go wrong." Your vote will determine the popular winner, while our distinguished panel of judges (and the occasional rogue AI) will separately select the official winner through their own cryptic methodology.
Voting Period: January 1–31, 2026
(Because we need the full year to document all the spectacular failures first)
Before You Vote
Haven't reviewed this year's magnificent disasters yet? We strongly encourage you to browse our 2025 nominees before casting your ballot. Each entry includes detailed documentation of how artificial intelligence met human overconfidence with predictably entertaining results.
Remember: you're not just voting for a winner—you're helping preserve these cautionary tales for future generations who might otherwise repeat these mistakes. (Though let's be honest, they probably will anyway.)
Voting Guidelines & Fine Print
Our democratic process adheres to the highest standards of internet polling integrity:
- One Vote Per Person: We operate on the honour system, which has worked brilliantly for everything else on the internet.
- Anonymous Voting: Your identity remains confidential, though your taste in AI disasters will be publicly celebrated.
- People's Choice vs. Official Winner: Your vote determines the popular winner. Our expert panel will separately announce the official winner using their own mysterious methodology (involving public voting, expert panels, and occasionally by the AI systems themselves).
- Results Announcement: Both winners will be revealed in February 2026, assuming the AI systems we use to count votes don't achieve sentience and vote for themselves.
- No Voter Registration Required: Unlike actual democracy, participation here requires no documentation of your qualifications to judge artificial intelligence catastrophes.
- Equal Opportunity Mockery: All nominees receive equal consideration regardless of corporate size, stock price, or number of emergency patches deployed.
Disclaimer: By participating in this democratic process, you acknowledge that the future of human civilization may depend on people learning from these examples. Your vote contributes to the important work of documenting AI misadventure for educational purposes. No AI systems were consulted in the creation of this voting process (we learned our lesson).
What Happens Next?
Once voting closes, we'll tabulate the People's Choice results using traditional, non-AI methods (spreadsheets and calculators, like our ancestors). Simultaneously, our expert panel will conduct their own evaluation using their proprietary blend of rigorous analysis and educated guesswork.
Both the People's Choice winner and Official winner will be announced with appropriate fanfare in February 2026. All nominees—winners and runners-up alike—will be immortalized on this website for posterity, serving as permanent cautionary tales for future generations of AI developers (assuming they learn to read before deploying).
Remember: immortalisation in our archives is the only prize, but it's the gift that keeps on giving—to researchers, historians, and comedians for years to come.