South Africa has withdrawn its draft national artificial intelligence (AI) policy after “fictitious sources” – most likely AI-generated – were discovered in its reference list.
Minister of communications and digital technologies Solly Malatsi confirmed that the current draft policy would be withdrawn after its “integrity and credibility” were “compromised.”
“Following revelations that the Draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy published for public comment contains various fictitious sources in its reference list, we initiated internal questions which have now confirmed that this was the case.
“This failure is not a mere technical issue but has compromised the integrity and credibility of the draft policy. As such, I am withdrawing the Draft National Artificial intelligence Policy.”
A demontration of the pitfalls of AI
Malatsi said that the most “plausible explanation” for the failure was that “AI-generated citations were included without proper verification.”
“In fact, this unacceptable lapse proves why vigilant human oversight over the use of artificial intelligence is critical. It’s a lesson we take with humility. I want to reassure the country that we are treating this matter with the gravity it deserves. There will be consequence management for those responsible for drafting and quality assurance.”
The draft AI policy had been approved by Cabinet for public comment, which was expected to last until 10 June.
The government had said the document “extends the initial AI policy framework, embedding principles of intergenerational equity, ensuring that AI-driven innovation prioritises the well-being of current and future generations.”
Malatsi issued an apology on behalf of the department for the lapse.
“South Africans deserve better. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies did not deliver on the standard that is acceptable for an institution entrusted with the role to lead South Africa ‘s digital policy environment.”
Minister fronts up
In a further interview with state broadcaster SABC, Malatsi conceded that the revelations were a “massive embarassment not only to the department but also to government.”
“It just exposes the irony that in as much as we were in process of developing a policy that will have a package of guidelines around the responsible use of AI, we fell foul of that, we fell short of that…we have to take responsibility for the lack of robust oversight in ensuring that the moment that was supposed to be a breakthrough moment for South Africa in terms of policymaking is now stained by this massive lapse of a failure to verify the credibility of some of the sources.”
“We have withdrawn the policy now, we’ll make sure there’s accountability internally in the department and make sure it gets subjected to much more rigorous oversight and editiorial ovesight so we can restore the integrity of the policy when it comes out again for public input.”