Politics gets a bad rap: Orbán aide tangles with MEP via ChatGPT

ChatGPT is at it again. This time the responsive artificial intelligence has angered the Hungarian government. Asked by Green MEP Daniel Freund on Monday to "write a rap song about Orban's corruption," the popular chatbot slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

While it's unlikely to win a Grammy, the chatbot touched a nerve in Budapest with its verses:

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He's been stacking the courts, packing the press
Making sure his critics are silenced, no less
Using public funds to line his own pockets
(...) From football clubs to luxury castles
Orban's empire is built on scams and hustles. The chatbot's attack prompted an angry response from Orban's government's spokesperson. Zoltan Kovacs fired back, saying the chatbot was "nothing more than a bullshit generator" -- and went on to ask the AI software to create a rap song about Freund.

But the chatbot actually praised the German MEP, labeling him a "fighter for democracy," while getting his place of work incorrect: Representing the Greens in the Bundestag
Fighting for justice and freedom, he's got swag
(...) A fighter for democracy, he's a friend
(...) In the Parliament, his voice won't bend. Hungary, which joined the EU in 2004, has a long rap sheet from the European Commission over rule of law concerns.

Several relatives and close friends of Orban, who has built his Fidesz party's rule on a far-reaching patronage system, have faced corruption allegations. According to Transparency International's latest report, Hungary is perceived as having the worst public sector corruption record in the EU. Freund and Kovacs continued their spat when contacted by POLITICO.

Asked about the AI-powered row, Kovacs said the exchange was a "one-off gag by an agent provocateur," while Freund said the spokesperson's reaction backfired and turned into "an own goal." Freund said he was "pleasantly surprised" with the song, which showed "a rather complex understanding of the political situation in Hungary" but was "not 100 percent accurate." The chatbot "seems to think I'm in the German parliament, not the European Parliament," he added.

Freund said it was the first time he had used ChatGPT for communications purposes -- and, since the rap song was "among [his] most successful" tweets, he might do it again.