AI added fuel to the fire of a debate that has echoed through Egyptian academia, and indeed Egyptian society for many years.

The Guardian reported that this 66ft mural, created by Rasmet Basma, a group of volunteers, and occupying a prominent position in Tahrir Square, caused something of a political crisis.

Showing a seemingly dark-skinned Pharaoh Tutankhamun and Queen Nefertiti, the mural, was ordered to be painted over, just hours before a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Ahmed Moussa, the 22-year-old founder of Rasmet Basma, confirmed that they had acted on orders to cover up the mural, after it angered locals, academic figures and the government by tapping into controversial debates about the Afrocentric origins of Egyptian culture.

The design of the mural had come from the AI platform ChatGPT, which also caused consternation

Mostafa Eissa, an art critic, said AI should remain a tool, never a decision-maker in its own right.

“I favour using technology without abandoning the human element within the artist,” he said.

Monica Hanna, an Egyptologist and assistant professor of archaeology at the American University of Iraq–Baghdad, labelled Afrocentric claims “pseudoscience”

Images c/o Rasmet Basma