South Africa withdraws AI policy draft due to referencing AI

Johannesburg, April 27th (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Minister of Communications and Digital Technology, Soli Malazi, announced on the evening of the 26th that he would withdraw the draft National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy that was currently soliciting public opinion. After internal verification, it has been confirmed that the references in this draft contain multiple fictitious sources.

 

Malazi stated that this issue is not simply a technical error and has substantially damaged the integrity and credibility of the policy draft. He said that the South African people deserve higher quality policy documents, and the Department of Communications and Digital Technology has failed to meet the standards it should have as the leading agency for national digital policy.

 

The most likely reason is that references generated by artificial intelligence were used without sufficient verification. This should not have happened, "Malazi said." This unacceptable mistake precisely demonstrates the need for strict human supervision when using artificial intelligence. We will learn from this with humility and take this matter seriously, and those responsible for drafting and quality review will be held accountable

 

The draft was approved by the Cabinet on March 25th this year and published in the government gazette on April 10th. The original plan was to solicit public opinions until June 10th, 2026. The draft extends the principle of intergenerational equity on the basis of the original policy framework, aiming to ensure that AI driven innovation prioritizes the well-being of present and future generations.

 

(Editor in charge: Ma Changyan)