South Africa scraps its debut AI policy after it was found written by AI
South Africa withdrew its draft national AI policy after discovering AI-generated citations in the document. The policy's 67 references included at least six fabricated citations, compromising its integrity and credibility.
South Africa has withdrawn its first-ever draft national artificial intelligence (AI) policy less than three weeks after publication. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies released the draft policy on April 10. Investigators found that parts of the document contained fabricated, AI-generated academic references. At least six of the policy's 67 references were 'hallucinated' by AI, pointing to non-existent academic journals or articles. The country's communications minister, Solly Malatsi, confirmed the lapse had 'compromised the integrity and credibility' of the policy. The government is expected to revise the draft policy before reissuing it for public consultation.
This content was automatically generated and/or translated by AI. It may contain inaccuracies. Please refer to the original sources for verification.