The line would work best if somebody had explained on screen to 3PO who he is after his mind was wiped.
But yeah, since that didn’t happen, he’s gonna have to say “It appears” beforehand (which implies that he either pieced things together or was told offscreen). Otherwise it sounds too much like something 3PO would say pre-mindwipe. It is funny, but it’s not worth it imo if it doesn’t make sense.