Thuringia's Minister-President Voigt defends use of AI in speeches and guest contributions

Reaction of the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"

The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" drew consequences and deleted Voigt's guest contribution on the topic of social media bans for children and adolescents from its website. As the paper announced, the contribution was also removed from the archive. In the text, Voigt had quoted, according to "Frag den Staat," three scholars who, however, could not be verified.

Thuringia's Digital Minister Steffen Schütz (BSW) told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that he himself uses AI exclusively for research purposes and for topic preparation. "Reden oder Beiträge erstelle ich nicht mit KI. Würde ich aber kennzeichnen." The Thuringian Left criticized Voigt and pointed out that the use of AI violated the service instruction of his Digital Ministry.

Expert warns of "hunting fever"

The Erfurt political scientist and AI expert Thorsten Thiel, Professor for Democracy Promotion and Digital Policy, told dpa that the assisted writing of such speeches was "der Normalfall." More serious was to be assessed the possible use of invented quotes. "Es ist gegenüber den Personen, die da zitiert werden und denen etwas in den Mund gelegt wird, eindeutig ein Verstoß gegen die Redlichkeit." At the same time, he warned of a "Jagdfieber" mood: "Das Jagen mit Tools ist definitiv gefährlich, weil das erzeugt permanent ein Verdachtsmodell."

Thiel also emphasized that politicians had to learn in dealing with AI tools. "Politik muss sich da professionalisieren, um die Gefahr der Skandalisierung etwas zu dämpfen." The greater damage to democracy, in his view, was in any case the general loss of trust in established politics, not the creation of AI-assisted speeches.

The case hits Voigt in an already tense phase. The Chemnitz University of Technology had revoked his doctoral title after a review of his dissertation. Voigt is fighting back with an objection and announced that he would sue before the administrative court if necessary. He has also been facing plagiarism allegations for months.

Political pressure and lost doctoral title

Politically, Voigt has been leading a coalition of CDU, BSW, and SPD in Thuringia for about a year and a half. This alliance does not have its own majority in the state parliament and depends on the behavior of the opposition. Voigt is 49 years old.

In his guest contribution for the F.A.Z., Voigt had, according to "Frag den Staat," quoted three scholars who could not be verified. Thiel sees this as a clear indication of the use of generative methods: "Das ist problematisch. Das zeugt von äußerst schlechtem Handwerk".

Overall, the incident illustrates the growing debate about dealing with AI in political communication. While proponents point to efficiency gains, critics see the credibility of political statements at risk, especially when quotes cannot be verified.