CAPE TOWN, April 27 (Xinhua) — South Africa has withdrawn its Draft National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy after it emerged that the document contained fictitious references.
This came after a recent local media report revealed that several academic papers and journals cited in the draft policy did not exist and were suspected to be AI-generated.
In a statement on Sunday, South African Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi announced the withdrawal.
“Following revelations that the Draft National AI 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,” said Malatsi.
“This failure is not a mere technical issue but has compromised the integrity and credibility of the draft policy,” he said.
The draft AI policy was approved by the Cabinet on March 25 for public comment. According to a government gazette dated April 10, the public had until June 10 to comment on the policy.
In the statement, Malatsi said the most plausible explanation was that AI-generated citations had been included without proper verification, noting that the lapse underscored the importance of human oversight in the use of AI. ■
