Trump accused of using AI to compose garbled executive ordersThat would explain some of the clunky language, say observersMary Papenfussin San FranciscoThursday 23 January 2025 10:03 ESTTrump gets busy on executive orders (POOL/AFP via Getty)Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read ourprivacy policyLegal experts are blaming Donald Trumps suspected use of artificial intelligence for the often slipshod language of his multitude of executive orders.Another 16 orders signed the first day of Trumps term were ripped straight from the pages of the right-wing Heritage Foundation Project 2025 plan for the Trump administration, economist Robert Reich claimed in a post on X (Twitter). Trump said throughout his campaign that he knew nothing about Project 2025.Many of Trumps orders are difficult to read and understand, marked by errors and stilted language, observers have noted, which could be a problem for Trump if challenged in court, as many of them are likely to be.Houston-based appellate lawyer Raffi Melkonian called attention in a post on Bluesky to a section of one of Trumps executive orders Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness declaring a rebrand of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.Its language evokes a grade-school-level textbook description similar to the bland language of AI-powered chatbots.The Gulf is also home to vibrant American fisheries teeming with snapper, shrimp, grouper, stone crab, and other species, and it is recognized as one of the most productive fisheries in the world, with the second largest volume of commercial fishing landings by region in the Nation, contributing millions of dollars to local American economies, notes the order. That section was absolutely written by AI, Melkonian argued, who called the passage written for morons.In one of the most notable garbled executive orders, Trump declared that males and females are the only genders that exist. He also insisted in the order that gender is determined at conception. In fact, genitalia at conception are phenotypically female, notes the National Library of Medicine. A percentage of embryos will develop male sexual characteristics, but only beginning at about six weeks in the womb.That had Delaware Rep Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, mocking Trump for effectively declaring everyone a woman.Beyond the significant error, the order is almost impossible to read. It states that the genders include a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell and a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell an awkward and likely AI-concocted manner of language thats almost opaque.This is poor, slipshod work, Slate journalist and legal expert Mark Joseph Stern said of a number of the orders in a Bluesky post, adding that the decrees have been obviously assisted by AI.Lots of reporting suggested that, this time around, Trump and his lawyers would avoid the sloppy legal work that plagued his first administration so theyd fare better in the courts, Stern noted. I see no evidence of that in this round of executive orders.Join our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesMost PopularPopular videosSponsored Features