Chicago Sun-Times Sunday insert contains 10 AI-generated fake books in summer reading list

Yahoo

21-05-2025

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.
Readers looking to fill their carts with titles such as 'Tidewater Dreams' by Isabel Allende, 'The Collector's Piece' by Taylor Jenkins Reid or 'Hurricane Season' by Brit Bennett were likely disappointed to find the elaborate plot summaries were themselves fictionalized.
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.'
The 64-page full-color Sunday insert, 'Heat Index,' is a summer entertainment guide featuring stories about everything from outdoor cooking and camping tips to '8 unforgettable summer drives across America.'
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.'
In a 'Matrix'-like paradox, artificial intelligence played a key role in putting together the fake book list.
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, who also contributes articles to the Sunday Careers section produced by Tribune Content Agency, among other publications, said he writes four seasonal sections for King Features each year. He put together the summer feature in February.
Unable to find early summer reading lists from Amazon or other sources, he said he turned to AI platforms such as ChatGPT, which churned out 15 potential blockbusters written by well-known authors. Buscaglia submitted the list without his byline, but unfortunately, the robot contributors made up most of the book selections.
'It obviously completely backfired,' Buscaglia said. 'They must have had a hard time finding new books, too. So they just made them up.'
Beyond the fake plot summaries, the summer reading list did contain five actual books, including 'Dandelion Wine' by Ray Bradbury and 'Call Me By Your Name' by André Aciman.
While Buscaglia used AI to help gather material for other stories in the special section, he said he does not know if they contain similar errors.
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.'
The fallout in Chicago media circles, however, is growing.
In March, more of than one-fifth of the staff at the Sun-Times, including some prominent journalists, took a buyout ahead of potential layoffs in a sweeping cost-cutting initiative by its nonprofit owner, Chicago Public Media.
The Sun-Times Guild issued a statement Tuesday distancing its diminished ranks of union journalists from the third-party content used by the newspaper.
'We're deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work,' the union said. 'The fact that it was sixty-plus pages of this 'content' is very concerning — primarily for our relationship with our audience but also for our union's jurisdiction.'
In a statement posted on its website Tuesday afternoon, the Sun-Times said subscribers would not be charged for the premium section and that it would be excised from the e-paper version online.
The paper also said it would be more transparent about identifying third-party editorial content going forward and is 'reviewing' its relationship with the national content partner.
'We are committed to making sure this never happens again,' the Sun-Times said. 'We know that there is work to be done to provide more answers and transparency around the production and publication of this section, and will share additional updates in the coming days.'