Chicago Sun-Times prints summer reading list full of fake books
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Summary
An advertising feature placed in the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday suggested a number of authors had books coming out in 2025, but many of the titles seem to have been fabricated by an AI chatbot.
The feature, titled the “Summer Reading List for 2025”, suggested novels such as “Tidewater Dreams” by Isabel Allende and “The Last Algorithm” by Andy Weir were set for release in the future, but neither author has reportedly written a book matching those descriptions.
Marco Busaglia, the creative behind the advert, has since admitted using AI for the background content, but didn’t fact-check the listings, assuming responsibility for the error.
This is not the first time ChatGPT and other AI assistants have been blamed for creating plausible-sounding errors in media it outputs, known as confabulations, especially when lacking detailed information.
The Chicago Sun-Times has addressed the issue, stating it is investigating, and that the unapproved content, which didn’t go through the editorial team, is not reflective of its journalistic standards.
