A Downing Street speechwriter has been photographed using ChatGPT to edit an address by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, prompting questions about whether politicians should rely on artificial intelligence to draft or polish their speeches.
The aide was seen on a train from London Euston to Holyhead on Friday, November 13, drinking prosecco while using the AI bot. Pictures obtained by the Mail showed the speechwriter asking ChatGPT to make Burnham's speech at Welsh Labour's annual party conference "a little more emotive".
ChatGPT's Response
ChatGPT replied: "I prefer the second [passage]. It moves from the miners to their families to the wider community, showing how the experience of industrial work created bonds well beyond the workplace. And it leaves the working men's clubs, choirs and other social infrastructures for the next passage."
A Downing Street spokesman has since insisted that Burnham "writes most of his own speeches". The spokesman added that the aide "sought feedback" on a speech that had already been written.
Political Reaction
Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson has accused the Prime Minister of being a "sham" and "artificial". He joked that it must be "thirsty work" writing his speeches.
Anderson told the Mail on Sunday: "His bubbly-drinking socialists have no plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. AI Andy's man-of-the-people act has been exposed as a sham."
He added: "He's an artificial Prime Minister who doesn't have the faintest clue what he believes or what he's doing."
The revelation has sparked a wider debate over the use of AI in political speechwriting, with the incident drawing attention to how technology is being integrated into government communications.
