Metsola tells MEPs not to rely on AI when drafting laws

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola warned MEPs Wednesday not to be overreliant on AI in decision-making, as the Parliament prepares new guidelines for lawmakers on how to use it.

“Drafting an amendment with the help of AI cannot replace fundamentally the constructive debate with a colleague,” she said at an event on AI use in the Parliament. “Doing legal research with the help of AI cannot ultimately replace the judgment and the critical thinking needed to make a tough decision.”

Metsola said there must be “democratic accountability” in lawmaking and argued that “where AI is used, people should know.”

“No matter how AI may be used in a parliament, the responsibility is still [with] those who are elected,” she said.

Secretary-General Alessandro Chiocchetti said at the same event that Parliament is building its own AI tool for sensitive work, hosted on its internal infrastructure.

As POLITICO reported in July, commercial AI models, such as ChatGPT, Claude and Meta’s Llama, can still be used for less sensitive tasks.

Parliament officials have warned of a surge in AI-written amendments, including some that reference laws that don't exist. Chiocchetti cited the case of an MEP who turned to AI for legal advice and got a wrong answer. “Our jurists took two days just to prove ChatGPT wrong,” he said.

The administration will submit new guidelines on using AI to senior leaders “very soon,” Chiocchetti said. Existing guidelines for staff date from 2024.

“Basically it boils down to three things: be open about using artificial intelligence, meaning if they use it, they have to say it as the rules require; never put sensitive material into a public tool; and check everything before it leaves your desk because it is your name on it,” Chiocchetti said.

He added he wants to use AI to help sort through thousands of amendments. But the drafting and consideration of laws need to remain with MEPs, as “the risk is indeed that we delegate the political debate to a chatbot.”

“Every text we vote has to be one that people wrote, checked, and are willing to defend. Anyone reading a new regulation should be able to find out who decided and hold them responsible.”