Boris Palmer Declares “I Regret Nothing” After Controversial Comments, Uses AI to Vet Posts

Boris Palmer, the mayor of Tübingen, remains unapologetic about his contentious remarks. “I regret nothing I said” he told “Der Spiegel”. Still, he is frustrated that opponents have made it easy to tarnish his reputation. To prevent “shut‑downs” he now has his social‑media posts reviewed by artificial intelligence. “If I’m not sure, I ask ChatGPT whether it’s okay to write it that way” he explained. The chatbot is usually “quite woke” and it often says no.

Palmer admitted he has sometimes made wrong statements, and he apologizes only to avert further damage, not to admit fault. He criticises what he sees as a habit of attacking people publicly until they offer a contrived apology to save face. “The zeitgeist of wokeness is retreating” he said. The excessive regulation of language and moralising has, in his view, become over the top, leaving the majority of people fed up.

For many years he has been a vocal critic in migration debates. Recently he has moderated his tone on social media and regained acceptability on the political stage. While he does not aim for a ministerial role under the Green Party’s Cem Özdemir, he could still be involved in government work.