Canberra ‘put on notice’ as AI-generated submissions bring false information into parliamentary inquiries

Analysis by Guardian Australia found inquiries are being flooded with content created by AI, which is inventing studies and attributing nonexistent research to real academics and authors.

In some cases, committee reports have even cited submissions in which the majority of sources appear to be AI-generated hallucinations – which occurs when large language models (LLMs) produce or refer to content that looks real, but doesn’t actually exist.

Senate advice for inquiry submissions warns that use of AI can present risks to the quality of information and that accuracy is the responsibility of the submitter. The Liberal senator Paul Scarr, who was on a committee in 2023 that received a submission including fake allegations of wrongdoing by the professional firm KPMG, said the reporting showed there were clear dangers in an increase in the number of submissions that included hallucinated content, as lawmakers are depending on incorrect information.

Louise Miller-Frost, a Labor MP and chair of the social policy and legal affairs committee, which received a submission with hallucinated references, said committees were becoming more aware of the issue, but that submissions created using AI should not be discarded. Miller-Frost also noted that AI could be helpful for members of the public who might otherwise have difficulty making submissions.