Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer both publish AI-generated fictional reading list

The Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer recently published a summer reading list featuring entirely fictitious books attributed to real authors, marking another prominent case of AI hallucinations infiltrating mainstream journalism. This incident highlights the persistent challenge with generative AI systems, which can produce convincingly realistic content that appears authoritative while being completely fabricated – a particularly concerning development as these tools become more integrated into media production workflows.

The big picture: A special section in two major newspapers recommended nonexistent books supposedly written by prominent authors including Isabel Allende, Min Jin Lee, and Pulitzer Prize winner Percival Everett, all generated by artificial intelligence.

Why this matters: This incident demonstrates that despite improvements in generative AI technology, these systems still cannot reliably distinguish between fact and fiction, posing serious challenges for media organizations implementing AI tools.

Key details: The AI-generated book recommendations appeared convincingly authentic, with plausible fictional titles attributed to well-known authors.

• The fabricated descriptions matched authors’ known styles, such as suggesting Isabel Allende had written another “multigenerational saga.”
• The list also included fictional books falsely attributed to bestselling authors Delia Owens, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Brit Bennett.

The broader context: This case represents part of a growing trend of AI hallucinations appearing in respected news publications.

• AI chatbots often present fabricated information with an authoritative tone that makes falsehoods difficult to detect.
• The incident demonstrates the continued risks of deploying generative AI in journalism without robust human oversight and fact-checking procedures.