Rector of Ghent University withdraws from honorary doctorate at UvA after AI speech

Ghent University rector Petra De Sutter was set to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam next week, but has decided to decline after multiple AI citations were discovered in her inauguration speech.

“Dogma is the enemy of progress, as you may know.” In her speech last September, the new rector Petra De Sutter quoted Albert Einstein, among others. But what turned out? He never uttered these words; the quotes were fabricated by AI.

The Ghent-based gynecologist was to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) next week for “her important contributions to medical science” and her “influential social engagement”, but that will no longer happen.

Not an appropriate moment

De Sutter has announced that she is withdrawing from the ceremony. She feels that, given the circumstances, it is not an appropriate moment and, moreover, she does not want to harm UvA, according to university newspaper Folia. An UvA spokesperson said they understand the decision and call it “the right step”.

During her election campaign (rectors are elected in Belgium), the rector warned against the blind use of AI. Now she is taking responsibility: “I deeply regret that I fell into this trap. This experience has been a good lesson for me and will undoubtedly further stimulate the debate on the use of AI,” De Sutter told VRT NWS.

HOP, Naomi Bergshoeff