In the AIs can’t be trusted department …
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/ ... ake-books/
A special section inserted into the Sunday Chicago Sun-Times featured page upon page of fun summer activities, including a list of 15 books to bring along while lounging by the pool or relaxing in a favorite reading spot. The only problem: The authors are real, but most of the books don’t exist. Artificial intelligence, employed by a Chicago freelance writer, simply made them up. … snip … Several news reports and a wave of social media backlash to the fake books followed, creating an early summer storm for the Sun-Times, which released a statement Tuesday.
“We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak,” the Sun-Times said. “This is licensed content that was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom, but it is unacceptable for any content we provide to our readers to be inaccurate. We value our readers’ trust in our reporting and take this very seriously.”
But I have to say the AI was pretty creative …
The summer reading list contains 10 fictional fiction titles, including “The Rainmakers” by Percival Everett, described as a near-future story set in the American West where “artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity,” leading a “precipitation broker” to question the ethics of his profession.
Another fake book, “The Last Algorithm” by Andy Weir, is described as the latest science fiction thriller from the author of “The Martian” that “follows a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness — and has been secretly influencing global events for years.”
Ironic, that last one, isn’t it? Or could it be true?
Veteran Chicago freelancer Marco Buscaglia, who wrote the entire “Heat Index” section for King Features, a syndicated newspaper content producer owned by Hearst, said he used AI to compile the summer reading list. He then made the mistake of trusting it to be accurate. “I just straight up missed it,” Buscaglia, 57, told the Tribune on Tuesday. “I can’t blame anybody else.”
Buscaglia went on to say …
“They must have had a hard time finding new books, too. So they just made them up.”
Notice ... "they", not "it".
And maybe humans will soon no longer write books because they can’t compete how quickly AI can churn them out?
A King Features spokesperson issued a statement Wednesday denouncing the use of AI in the piece and severing ties with Buscaglia. “King Features has a strict policy with our staff, cartoonists, columnists, and freelance writers against the use of AI to create content,” the spokesperson said. “The Heat Index summer supplement was created by a freelance content creator who used AI in its story development without disclosing the use of AI. We are terminating our relationship with this individual.”
Ouch! And note it's the human that suffers ... not the AI.