Brazilian city passes ordinance secretly written by ChatGPT

(Patria) - City lawmakers in Brazil have passed what appears to be the first national legislation entirely written by artificial intelligence (AI), even if they didn't know it, AP reported.

The experimental ordinance was passed in October in the southern city of Porto Alegre, and city councilor Ramiro Rosário revealed this week that it was written by a chatbot, sparking objections and raising questions about the role of artificial intelligence in public policy.

Rosário told AP that he asked OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to draft a proposal to prevent the city from charging taxpayers for the replacement of water consumption meters if they were stolen. He then presented it to his 35 council colleagues without making any changes or even informing them of its origin.

"If I had discovered this earlier, the proposal certainly wouldn't have even been put to a vote," Rosário said.

The council unanimously approved it, and the ordinance took effect on November 23.

"It would be unfair to the population to risk the project not being approved just because artificial intelligence wrote it," he added.

The arrival of ChatGPT on the market a year ago has sparked debate about the impact of potentially revolutionary AI chatbots. While some see it as a promising tool, it has also raised concerns and anxiety about the unintended consequences for tasks currently performed by humans.

Porto Alegre, with a population of 1.3 million, is the second-largest city in southern Brazil.
City Council President Hamilton Sossmeier revealed that Rosário had commissioned ChatGPT to write the proposal when the councilor boasted about the achievement on social media on Wednesday.

Sossmeier initially told local media that he thought it was a "dangerous precedent".
Rosário from Porto Alegre was not the first lawmaker in the world to test ChatGPT's capabilities.
Others have done so to a limited extent or with less successful outcomes.

In Massachusetts, Democratic State Senator Barry Finegold turned to ChatGPT to help draft a bill aimed at regulating AI models, including ChatGPT. Filed earlier this year, it has yet to be voted on.

The council president, who initially condemned the method, had already wavered.

"I changed my mind," Sossmeier said.

"I started reading more closely and saw that, unfortunately or fortunately, this is going to be a trend."