AI-written speech delivered for the first time in Israeli parliament

National Unity Party Knesset Member Sharen Haskel marked a first by reading a speech written by the ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot to Israel’s parliamentary body.

The speech highlighted the recent divisions in Israel over the judicial reforms proposal.

“The effect of the rift in the nation is felt at all levels of Israeli society. … This may lead to a complete loss of public trust in the political system and damage to their political involvement,” the speech said.

“The division in the nation could lead to the destruction of the Israeli social fabric. The polarization and distancing of the different groups from each other could very likely lead to violence and physical confrontation,” it said.

The speech also called for “dialogue and cooperation between the political camps.”

At the end of the AI-scribed speech, Haskel said, “It’s interesting that artificial intelligence probably has more intelligence than many elected officials who are here in this house.”

“Reform like this has to come through consensus. Otherwise it will lead to the same division that we saw in Oslo,” Haskel noted, in her own words. “It was important for me to read the speech in the plenary because I saw that the artificial intelligence understood what politicians and the government still did not know how to understand. The rift they are creating in the people of Israel will take years to nurse and mend.”

While Haskel conveyed the first AI-written speech to be delivered before the Knesset, it is not the first time an Israeli politician gave a speech written by artificial intelligence.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave a speech at the Cybertech Tel Aviv conference at the beginning of the month that was partially written by AI.