AI-Drafted Speeches Rise in English-Speaking Legislatures
Lawmakers in the UK, Australia, and Canada are increasingly using artificial intelligence to draft parliamentary speeches, sparking concerns over the quality of political discourse.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to draft political speeches across English-speaking legislatures, with a significant rise in usage since 2024. Analysis from the detection tool Pangram indicates that one in ten words spoken in British parliamentary debates are AI-drafted. Usage rates are even higher in Australia and Canada, where members of parliament use the technology at triple the rate of their British counterparts.
In the UK, Conservative MP Neil Shastri-Hurst is the most prolific user, with three-quarters of his contributions flagged as AI-written. Other frequent users include Labour MPs Steve Yemm and Sarah Hall, as well as independent MP Alex Easton. While some leaders, such as Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, remain unapologetic about using AI for official communications and social media, British voters strongly disapprove of AI-authored speeches.
Critics warn that automating political arguments risks degrading public discourse. Former speechwriter Alan Lockey argued that relying on these tools leads to a decline in quality, while Sarah Hall characterized AI as an assistant rather than a substitute for human writing.
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