Ai, eish! Ramaphosa ‘doesn’t use ChatGPT for speeches’

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) gains momentum, the Presidency has said it does not use AI or ChatGPT to develop content such as speeches.

This comes after a rumour that sections of a speech delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 21 November were written using ChatGPT circulated.

AI generated

The post was shared by X user Bloody Aardvark on the platform.

“Ramaphosa’s speech in praise of decolonised education was written by AI.  Credit to @RomanCabanac for the hunch and @mike_said_what for the proof.”

Cabanac who is a YouTuber believed AI had written Ramaphosa’s speech.

According to the post, plagiarism checker software Scribbr found that one extract of Ramaphosa’s speech was likely 89% generated by AI or ChatGPT.

Ramaphosa's speech in praise of decolonised education was written by AI.

Credit to @RomanCabanac for the hunch and @mike_said_what for the proof. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/NVBXXvkRdq

— Bloody Aardvark (@AardvarkBloody) November 23, 2023

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Below is the extract alleged to be generated by AI:

“The project of decolonising education in Africa is not just a matter of academic interest. It is a pressing need. We must challenge colonial theories and practices to build resilient education systems that are centred on African perspectives and experiences.

“This requires a shift away from a Eurocentric worldview to embrace a more diverse and inclusive perspective. We must acknowledge and value the knowledge systems of all peoples and integrate them into our curricula and knowledge selection processes.”

Investigating

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told The Citizen they were attending to the rumour.

“The speech in question was delivered by the President to an international education conference. Those parts of the speech were provided by the Department of Basic Education, and we have asked the department to confirm the source of the draft supplied.”

Magwenya told The Citizen the Presidency does not use AI in the preparation of Ramaphosa’s speeches.

“While we understand that there are questions about the reliability of ‘AI-detection’ tools, we nevertheless take these reports seriously. The use of AI to produce speeches or any other material is unacceptable, and action will be taken should these reports prove to be correct,” Magwenya said.

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