The summer reading list tucked into a special section of The Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer seemed innocuous enough.
There were books by beloved authors such as Isabel Allende and Min Jin Lee; novels by best sellers including Delia Owens, Taylor Jenkins Reid and Brit Bennett; and a novel by Percival Everett, a recent Pulitzer Prize winner.
There was just one issue: None of the book titles attributed to the above authors were real. They had been created by generative artificial intelligence.
It’s the latest case of bad A.I. making its way into the news. While generative A.I. has improved, there is still no way to ensure the systems produce accurate information. A.I. chatbots cannot distinguish between what is true and what is false, and they often make things up. The chatbots can spit out information and expert names with an air of authority.
Most of the book descriptions were fairly believable. It didn’t seem out of reach that Ms. Bennett would “explore family bonds tested by natural disasters,” or that Ms. Allende would pen another “multigenerational saga.”
The technology publication 404 Media reported earlier on the reading list. In addition to nonexistent book titles, the section included quotes from unidentifiable experts.
Both The Sun-Times and The Inquirer issued statements condemning the use of A.I. and in part blamed King Features, a Hearst syndicate that licenses content nationally. The syndicate produced the 56-page supplement to the newspaper called “Heat Index: Your Guide to the Best of Summer,” which also included things like summer food trends and activity recommendations.
While the list did not have a byline, a freelancer named Marco Buscaglia took responsibility for piece. He confirmed that the list was partially generated by artificial intelligence, most likely Claude.
“It was just a really bad error on my part and I feel bad that it has affected The Sun-Times and King Features, and that they are taking the shrapnel for it,” Mr. Buscaglia said in an interview.
It’s fairly common for media organizations, especially resource-strapped local newsrooms, to rely on syndicates to supplement coverage.
Just two months ago, 20 percent of staff at The Sun-Times resigned as part of a buyout offer. On the newspaper’s homepage on Wednesday, there were two banners atop the website. One linked to the statement on the May 18 special section, and the other linked to a piece on how federal cuts threaten local journalism.
Felix M. Simon, a research fellow in A.I. and digital news at the Reuters Institute at Oxford University, said the technology was not entirely at fault. There are responsible and irresponsible ways to use A.I. for news gathering, he said.
“We need better education for everyone from the freelancer level to the executive level,” Dr. Simon said, calling on people to look “at the structures that ultimately allowed this factually false article to appear in a reputable news outlet.”
The special section was removed from The Inquirer’s website when it was discovered, according to Lisa Hughes, the publisher and chief executive of the paper. The section was also removed from The Sun-Times’s e-paper version, according to a statement, and subscribers would not be charged for the premium edition.
King Features did not respond to requests for comment, but in a statement provided to The Sun-Times said it had “a strict policy with our staff, cartoonists, columnists, and freelance writers against the use of A.I. to create content.”
In their statement, The Sun-Times said that the incident should be a “learning moment.”
“Our work is valued — and valuable — because of the humanity behind it,” the statement read.
Talya Minsberg is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news.
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