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Hungary official takes on German MEP in AI 'rap battle'

Getty Images Image shows Viktor OrbanGetty Images
Hungary's prime minister was the target of an unusual rap - prompting his spokesman to respond in kind

It's unlikely to dominate the streaming charts, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has become the subject of a unique diss track.

And the man behind the song is no up-and-coming artist or future festival headliner.

It's a member of European Parliament from Germany, Daniel Freund - a fierce critic of Mr Orban.

The lyrics refer to "scams and hustles" and take aim at alleged corruption in Hungary.

"From football clubs to luxury castles; Orban's empire is built on scams and hustles; It's time to clean up, it's time to fight; We won't back down until Orban's out of sight," the lyrics say.

Daniel Freund/Twitter Tweet from Daniel Freund with rap about Viktor Orban reading "He's been stacking the courts, packing the press; Making sure his critics are silenced, no less; Using publi funds to line his own pockets; It's time to call him out, let's unlock it; From football clubs to luxury castles; Orban's empire is built on scams and hustles; It's time to clean up, it's time to fight; We won't back down until Orban's out of sight"Daniel Freund/Twitter

If you're surprised at the Green politician's decision to make his point through rap lyrics - you'd be right to be sceptical.

That's because it was actually written by an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot - ChatGPT.

ChatGPT, which reacts to users in a conversational way, provides convincingly human responses to questions using information from the internet. It can write essays, computing code and poems among many other things.

Mr Freund asked the tool to produce a rap about corruption in Hungary. "I was quite impressed how it put widely known accusations against the Orban government into a rap text," he told AFP news agency on Tuesday.

Hungary is an EU member but has frequently clashed with the bloc.

It recently dropped to last place among members in a Transparency International corruption ranking that alleged "political elites" misused state and EU funds.

The diss track touched a nerve in Budapest and drew a swift response - initiating what may well be the strangest rap battle in history.

Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs posted a ChatGPT rap about Mr Freund which called him a "fighter for democracy" whose "agenda is shining bright".

Zoltan Kovacs/Twitter Tweet from Zoltan Kovacs with rap about Daniel Freund, reading "Yo, let me tell you 'bout Daniel Freund; a German politician that you need to comprehend; Representing the Greens in the Bundestag; Fighting for justice and freedom, he's got swag; (CHORUS) Daniel Freund; A fighter for democracy, he's a friend; Daniel Freund, Daniel Freund; In the parliament, his voice won't bend; From transparency to human rights; Daniel Freund's agenda is shining bright; He's exposing corruption in the EU; Making sure that the truth comes through"Zoltan Kovacs/Twitter

In his view, the lyrics proved ChatGPT was "nothing more than a [expletive] generator".

So is the AI tool the future of rap? Well it's fair to say that judging by both efforts, the answer is a resounding no.