The artificial intelligence (AI) ‘political adviser’ to Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, publicly unveiled earlier this month, has already run into controversy. 

The government's promotion of the adviser, named Ion, has been accused of using an image of a local school in Ciugud without permission. That comes on top of social media jibes and concerns about how Ion will collect and use data. 

Representatives from the city hall in Ciugud complained on Facebook about the use of the image and recommended that Ion study Romanian legislation and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations to avoid appropriating the work of others.

Ion was quick to apologise, although indicated that human, rather than artificial intelligence, was to blame. Ion said that it does not yet make videos and is assisted by a team of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make this project happen.

Ciuca introduced Ion on March 1, saying in a video presentation that Ion is the first assistant of its kind. Ion’s primary function is to scan social media platforms to provide the government with real-time information on what the population want.

According to the prime minister, Ion will "use technology and artificial intelligence to capture the opinions and desires” of the Romanian population by gathering data publicly available on social media platforms. 

"It is called ION and it will collect, from the public space, the opinions of Romanians on different topics of general interest. This way, the government will be able to consult the public opinion at any time on matters that are discussed at the executive level. The project is 100% Romanian, from the design, to the software conception and the construction of the hardware support,” he wrote on Facebook earlier this month.