A German minister faces scrutiny over the use of artificial intelligence in official texts

German Digitalization Minister Carsten Feldberger has faced scrutiny in the German media over the alleged use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of several texts of official speeches and opinion articles. A ministry spokesman confirmed to the German news agency that Feldberger uses artificial intelligence as a work tool. The spokesman said, “Minister Feldberger uses artificial intelligence as a support tool because he is convinced that Germany must quickly learn to use artificial intelligence in a productive and thoughtful way at the same time, and this applies to the economy, the public sector and politics.”

The weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported that many of the speeches and opinion articles attributed to Feldberger appear to have been largely drafted using artificial intelligence, and the newspaper said it based its findings on analyzes using software designed to detect content produced by artificial intelligence.

However, some experts point out that these detection programs are not completely reliable.

According to the report, articles published in Feldberger’s name in prominent German newspapers, in addition to several parliamentary speeches, showed widespread signs of the use of artificial intelligence.

The speech, delivered at the US foreign policy think tank the Atlantic Council in Washington in 2024, was said to have been produced entirely by artificial intelligence.

The ministry said that no special disclosure was provided to media organizations because artificial intelligence is considered a support tool comparable to word processing or research assistance.

“AI can be used as a discussion partner – to structure ideas, suggest alternative wordings, shorten texts, or improve structure,” the spokesperson said, stressing that all content is reviewed and approved by humans before publication to prevent errors and so-called hallucinations.