Opinion: Was Melania Trump’s Statement About Donald Written by AI?

It took an assassination attempt on her husband to persuade Melania Trump to whip off her “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket and express her intimate feelings.

The day after the traumatic Pennsylvania rally, the former first lady issued a rare public statement . In the 12 paragraphs released, only two mentioned her husband. The rest was a call to reunite America and remind people that “Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings.”

Writing this statement must have been a tough assignment, especially for a non-native English speaker. No one expected the Slovenian-born former model to suddenly turn into Joan Didion . Still, there’s an awkwardness to her phrasing that raises some questions, including why Trump keeps mentioning the word “human.” Who would do that?

A machine would do that. In fact, The Daily Beast started to wonder if perhaps Trump had turned to ChatGPT 4.0 for assistance in crafting a statement. Why not? Lots of humans do it. And if she did, who would ever learn her secret?

Except ChatGPT is pretty chatty. So we downloaded the full text of Trump’s statement (see below) into ChatGPT 4.0 and asked the program to assess the likelihood that the words were generated by AI. Here is ChatGPT’s response [ with our adds in bold ]:

“There are several elements in the letter that might indicate it was written by a large-language model like ChatGPT or a similar piece of software. Here are some potential clues:

Repetitive and Redundant Phrases: Phrases like “I am thinking of you, my fellow Americans,” are repeated, which can sometimes be a characteristic of language models that overuse certain phrases to create emphasis or structure.

Lack of Specificity: The letter has a generalized tone without many specific details or personal anecdotes that a human writer might include to make the message more personal and impactful.

Overly Formal and Polished Language: The language is quite formal and polished throughout, which can be a hallmark of text generated by language models that tend to err on the side of formal writing.

Emotional Yet Vague Sentiments: The letter uses a lot of emotional language and sentiments like “love,” “compassion,” and “empathy,” but does so in a somewhat generic way that lacks the nuance and complexity often found in human writing .

Mixed Metaphors and Clichés: The letter uses several mixed metaphors and clichés, such as “the fabric of our gentle nation is tattered” and “Dawn is here again.” This can be a sign of language models that pull from a wide array of sources to create text, sometimes resulting in a mishmash of familiar phrases.

Emphasis on Unity and Love: While the emphasis on unity and love is a common theme in political speeches, the way it is expressed here is quite broad and idealistic, which can sometimes be characteristic of language models attempting to cover all bases in a positive manner.

While none of these clues alone definitively prove the letter was written by a language model, together they might suggest that possibility.

The vagueness did seem strange, especially when the former first lady praised “Donald’s passion,” including his “love of music.” Was Melania Trump confusing Donald with former President Barack Obama? The only songs associated with her husband are “Y.M.C.A.” and “God Bless the U.S.A.” while Obama puts out an eclectic playlist of favorite songs at the end of the year—and often throws in a summer playlist, too.

It’s possible that Trump was channeling Michelle Obama the same way she borrowed from her predecessor’s speech at the 2016 RNC convention.

Perhaps the insinuation that AI played a part is unfair. Trump might not have the slightest idea of how to use ChatGPT. In that case, she would need help from someone with up-to-date tech skills who knew how to prompt ChatGPT to write an essay—someone like a high school senior who had recently applied to college. If only she had someone like that in her life.

Still, whoever constructed this message—a large-language model, a communications team, or Trump herself—the result was a statement that had all the personal insight of a vicar blathering on at a funeral of someone he never met.

MELANIA TRUMP’S STATEMENT:

I am thinking of you, now, my fellow Americans.

We have always been a unique union. America, the fabric of our gentle nation, is tattered, but our courage and commonsense must ascend and bring us back together as one.

When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of a devastating change. I am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband.

To the families of the innocent victims who are now suffering from this heinous act, I humbly offer my sincerest sympathy. Your need to summon your inner strength for such a terrible reason saddens me.

A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion - his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. The core facets of my husband’s life - his human side - were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been through the best of times and the worst of times.

Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love. Our personal, structural, and life commitment - until death - is at serious risk. Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings.

We are humans and fundamentally, instinctively, we want to help one another. American politics are only one vehicle that can uplift our communities. Love, compassion, kindness, and empathy are necessities.

And let us remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.

Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now.

This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again.

I am thinking of you, my fellow Americans.

The winds of change have arrived. For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide - thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.

Read more at The Daily Beast.