Downing Street speechwriter accused of using ChatGPT to help craft Andy Burnham's keynote address
A Downing Street speechwriter has been accused of using ChatGPT to help write a keynote address for Andy Burnham.
The No10 aide reportedly used the artificial intelligence chatbot to make the Prime Minister’s words more “emotive”.
They were also seen drinking prosecco while writing about the cost-of-living crisis on their way to a party conference in Wales, reports The Mail on Sunday.
While working on the address, the aide was reportedly seen consulting ChatGPT about ways to improve a section criticising the legacy of Margaret Thatcher.
According to an eyewitness, the bot recommended an “emotive” passage describing “working men’s clubs, choirs and other social infrastructure” that were lost as Britain moved away from its industrial base.
Later, in the speech delivered to Welsh Labour Members, Mr Burnham said Mrs Thatcher’s premiership in the 1980s “shattered the way of life for communities up and down Britain” with “mines closed, factories closed, steelworks silenced”.
The Prime Minister also referred to “the workplaces that created a way of life, the social infrastructure that we took for granted, the working men’s clubs, the sports teams, the choirs, the trade unions”.
He said: “People came together, looked out for each other.”
Chairman of Reform UK and Ashfield MP Lee Anderson told The Mail on Sunday: “It must be thirsty work writing speeches for Burnham.
“His bubbly-drinking socialists have no plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis…AI Andy’s man-of-the-people act has been exposed as a sham.
“He’s an artificial prime minister who doesn’t have the faintest clue what he believes or what he’s doing.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The PM writes most of his own speeches and this one was no exception.”
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In the speech, the Prime Minister also vowed to work “in lockstep” with Welsh Labour to reverse its fortunes, urging the party to “take stock” after its humiliation at the Senedd elections.
The Prime Minister said he would avoid “creating problems” or “going against” what Welsh leader Ken Skates wanted to achieve but warned the party must “listen” after its defeat by Plaid Cymru.
Labour dominated Welsh politics for a century but fell from power in Cardiff Bay to a distant third place behind Reform UK in May’s polls.
Speaking at the party’s Welsh conference on Saturday, the Prime Minister said: “So, the next mission, of course, is to get the Everton-supporting leader of Welsh Labour as first minister of this great nation, and Ken, you and I are absolutely in lockstep on that mission.”
Public First has carried out the review of Labour’s May election defeat, with the findings to be presented at the conference by senior academic Professor Anand Menon.
Mr Skates, who replaced former Welsh leader Baroness Eluned Morgan after she was unseated in May’s polls, said: “The Senedd elections were a pivotal point for Welsh Labour.
“The results were catastrophic for the party; that was clear for all to see. But the reasons for our losses, and there were a multitude of reasons, needed a dispassionate assessment.
“Welsh Labour commissioned this independent review because we needed an honest account of why we lost and what must change. Its findings are difficult and we take them seriously.
Reacting to Mr Burnham’s speech, Reform UK’s Welsh leader Helen Jenner said: “Labour are part of the political establishment that has allowed Wales to be deindustrialised, impoverished and invaded.
“That’s why the people of Wales rejected Labour at the ballot box in the Senedd elections back in May.”
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