Wisdom of Solomon: Hallucination-free (hopefully) — new draft AI policy will be ready by March, says Malatsi
It’s all fun and digital sovereignty until someone uses AI to draft a new national AI policy and you’re the minister who has to withdraw it.
Minister Solly Malatsi of communications and digital technologies revealed after a new draft AI policy for South Africa was withdrawn due to AI-generated hallucinations, that the team had been diligent in their review of the first draft. However, it appears that the lack of thorough bibliography examination led to the discovery of these errors.
Malatsi emphasized that the policy's goal was to ensure human oversight for national AI deployment, but the drafting process itself lacked sufficient human oversight. He stressed the importance of declaring reliance on AI tools and maintaining vigilance in every detail of policy creation. The minister also acknowledged the paradox of a policy designed to mandate human oversight failing due to a lack of human oversight.
In response to the incident, Malatsi chose public retraction over deflection, setting a high standard for executive accountability. He is currently working with an expert advisory panel, led by Prof Benjamin Rosman, to reconstruct a policy suitable for South Africa's unique reality. Malatsi aims to have a draft free from avoidable stains by the end of the financial year (March 2027).
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