Key facts
- Four PwC Middle East thought leadership reports published between 2024 and 2026 were found to contain AI hallucinations and fabricated claims.
- GPTZero's probe indicated an 84% to 100% chance that the 'Transforming Governance' report was AI-generated.
- The 'Transforming Governance' report falsely claimed its 'Citizen Pulse' framework was used by governments in Denmark, Saudi Arabia, the US, and Australia.
- Inconsistencies in citations and descriptions were noted in the 'Transforming Governance' report.
- PwC Middle East acknowledged the findings and is updating citations, emphasizing its commitment to Responsible AI.
PwC Middle East has been found to have published four thought leadership reports between 2024 and 2026 that contain significant issues related to the use of artificial intelligence, including fabricated claims and unverifiable citations. A probe by AI detection firm GPTZero revealed that one report, 'Transforming Governance,' had an 84% probability of being entirely AI-generated, rising to 100% when excluding its reference section.
This specific report promoted PwC's 'Citizen Pulse' data-driven framework, asserting its use by the governments of Denmark, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Australia. However, GPTZero found no public evidence to support these claims. Investigators noted that the report's citations did not follow standard conventions, with only 10 of 17 references corresponding to footnotes. The report also exhibited inconsistency in describing 'Citizen Pulse,' cycling between potential benefits and concrete claims of current use, a characteristic attributed to poorly prompted large language models.
The other three PwC Middle East reports examined also contained fabricated claims, statistical conflations, and citations of unrelated sources. One report, 'Building a Cyber-Resilient eMobility Ecosystem,' included a URL in a citation that pointed to ChatGPT. In response, a PwC Middle East spokesperson stated that the firm takes the accuracy of its research seriously and is updating a limited number of citations, emphasizing adherence to Responsible AI principles and quality control processes.
This incident follows similar revelations involving other 'Big Four' accounting firms, including KPMG, EY, and Deloitte, which have also faced scrutiny for AI-generated inaccuracies in their published reports.