South Africa has pulled back its draft national artificial intelligence policy after officials discovered that several of the academic references it relied on did not exist, according to Reuters and local reporting. The withdrawal has cast doubt on a document that was meant to set the country’s direction on AI governance, while also exposing how easily synthetic text can slip into formal policy work when human checking is weak.

Communications Minister Solly Malatsi said the most likely explanation was that AI-generated citations had been inserted without proper verification, Reuters reported. He said the breach damaged the credibility of the draft and signalled that those involved in preparing it could face consequences. The incident has also sharpened concerns about whether public institutions are adequately equipped to detect fabricated material produced by generative AI tools.

The draft, released for public comment on 10 April, set out an ambitious framework for positioning South Africa as a regional leader in AI development. According to Reuters, it proposed the creation of a National AI Commission, an AI Ethics Board and an AI Regulatory Authority, alongside tax breaks and grant support designed to encourage investment and innovation.

Commentary from The Conversation and other outlets treated the episode as a warning about the limits of current AI systems and the need for stronger verification before such tools are used in official work. MIT Technology Review, BBC News and Al Jazeera likewise framed the withdrawal as part of a broader debate over AI governance: how governments can encourage adoption of the technology while still ensuring that documents, recommendations and references are checked by people with the authority to catch errors.

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Source: Noah Wire Services