Midlands North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly has confirmed that he utilized artificial intelligence to draft a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging the EU to provide increased aid to Gaza.
Reports indicate that his letter included a narrative about a young girl residing in Rafah, which was later found to be fictional. Additionally, at one point, lyrics from the band ‘Swedish House Mafia’ were incorporated without proper attribution.
In an interview on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mr. Mullooly explained that his motivation was “to seek measures that did not require the [EU] member states to reach an agreement – as that is the core issue.”
“There’s considerable frustration in Brussels… particularly regarding the stance of Germany and other nations, where we have struggled for a long time to even review the [EU-Israel] Trade Agreement.”
He stated that AI was employed to draft the “first part of the letter… I reviewed every line, checked the references, and was quite satisfied with it,” he noted.
Mr. Mullooly mentioned that the latter part of the letter attracted the most attention, referencing a song by the ‘Swedish House Mafia.’
This section was composed by a member of his team who had sifted through 1,000 emails sent to his office regarding the Gaza situation.
The team member condensed those messages “into what has been labeled today as fiction, but it is actually based on real information provided in those emails,” he stated.
One of the 1,000 “real-life” emails contained a lyric from a ‘Swedish House Mafia’ song, which reads: “Don’t you worry, don’t you worry child, see heaven’s got a plan for you.”
Mr. Mullooly commented: “I had no idea what that referred to.”
“I asked a colleague in the office to use AI or any other resources to explain it to me – and I must admit, I am not a fan of ‘Swedish House Mafia’ – and I needed clarification on its origin.”
“That quote was part of an email I received from Gaza, and it struck me as encapsulating the vulnerability of the affected children, illustrating how their lives have been disrupted, transitioning from the comfort of their homes to a reality where we’ve tragically lost 15,000 children.”
“These are innocent children, and I was aiming to convey that message to Ursula von der Leyen.”
“That was the essence of my letter,” he concluded.
