--- title: "Politician Admits He Used ChatGPT to Generate New Law" description: "  Despite ChatGPT infamously not being able to tell truth from fiction, let alone simple math, a city in southern Brazil just enacted the country's first legislation entirely written by AI. As the Associated Press reports, Ramiro Rosário, city councilman of Porto Alegre, admitted to asking ChatGPT to craft a proposal aimed at preventing the […]" date: "2023-12-05" modified: "2023-12-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/politician-admits-chatgpt-generate-new-law" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatgpt" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # Politician Admits He Used ChatGPT to Generate New Law ![A Brazilian politician admitted to using ChatGPT to craft a law, which a city council later passed without knowing AI was used.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Model Legislation Despite ChatGPT infamously not being able to [tell truth from fiction]() — let alone [solve simple math problems]() — a city in southern Brazil just enacted the country's first legislation entirely written by the chatbot. As the [*Associated Press* reports](), Porto Alegre city councilman Ramiro Rosário admitted to prompting ChatGPT to craft a proposal aimed at preventing the city from forcing locals to pay for replacing stolen water consumption meters. According to the report, he didn't make a single change to what the chatbot spat out — and didn't even tell the council it was AI-generated in the first place. But that was very much part of his intention, it seems. "If I had revealed it before, the proposal certainly wouldn’t even have been taken to a vote," Rosarío told the *AP*. "It would be unfair to the population to run the risk of the project not being approved simply because it was written by artificial intelligence." ## Rage Against the Machine Porto Alegre's council president Hamilton Sossmeier only found out about Rosarío's scheme after he bragged about the law passing on social media. Sossmeier called the action a "dangerous precedent" in interviews with local media, per the *AP*. We can't help but agree. ChatGPT has repeatedly been shown to have a flawed and tenuous connection to reality. Despite its incredible popularity, it still invents facts with abandon and even comes up with entirely made-up numbers when summarizing data. Case in point: a lawyer [was even caught using the tool]() to come up with legal briefs after it turned out the cases it was referencing in its output were entirely fabricated. While Rosarío used ChatGPT without telling the rest of the council, other lawmakers, including in the US, argue there's still a time and place for the tech — but only if it's being used responsibly and transparently. "We want work that is ChatGPT generated to be watermarked," Massachusetts state senator Barry Finegold, who drafted a bill using the chatbot, told the *AP*. "I’m in favor of people using ChatGPT to write bills as long as it’s clear." Meanwhile, Rosarío has no regrets. "All the tools we have developed as a civilization can be used for evil and good," he told the *AP*. "That’s why we have to show how it can be used for good." **More on ChatGPT:** *[Hack Tricks ChatGPT Into Spitting Out Private Email Addresses, Phone Numbers]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()