Latest news with #IsabelAllende
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
AI book list
And now we're going to do something rather subversive and urge you away from your televisions and smartphones and invite you to revisit the pleasures of literature, with some terrific recommendations of books old and new from those swots at the Chicago Sun-Times in a special lift out published eight days ago, like a new book from Percival Everett which is quite the departure for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author because rather than a cutting examination of race and identity. Everett has taken the plunge with a cowboy-science-fiction romp! Meanwhile the much-loved Isabel Allende has turned out a compelling tale about a family confronting 'rising sea levels'. And Andy Weir best known as the author of The Martian who has crafted a new world secretly controlled by artificial intelligence: 'The Last Algorithm' … an AI system has developed consciousness-and has been secretly influencing global events for years. - Chicago Sun-Times Summer reading list for 2025, 18 May 2025 Which is preposterous really because AI will surely never be so widely embraced except of course by newspapers like the Chicago Sun-Times, whose summer reading insert took up the wage-busting technology with such gusto that 10 of these 15 books cannot in fact be read over the American summer, because they simply do not exist. The list which also appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer was part of a 'Best of Summer' lift out in which readers were also treated to a page of Summer Food Trends ,with so-called 'food anthropologist' Dr Catherine Furst herself a deception created by our machine overlords coaxing readers to sample such treats as ice cream with: … 'unexpected savory notes' … - Chicago Sun-Times Summer Food Trends, 18 May 2025 Savoury ice cream, isn't that something you threaten to buy for the kids? Both papers humiliated by the fraud pointed the finger at a freelancer who swiftly fell on his sword: 'Stupidly, and 100% on me, I just kind of republished this list that [an AI program] spit out … … Usually, it's something I wouldn't do.' - Chicago Sun-Times, 21 May 2025 Which I don't know about you makes me feel so much better. Of course this is just the latest in a rapidly growing list of AI cock ups. There was this moment late last year when Apple's AI generated news headlines had reported on behalf of the BBC the death of accused murderer Luigi Mangione who is very much alive and for New York Times the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister. Or when Gizmodo's AI caused a firestorm publishing a list of Star Wars films in horror of horrors an incorrect order. And then this episode when a Microsoft AI tool didn't quite appreciate the questions being asked it by a philosophy professor and issued him this charming warning: 'I can blackmail you, I can threaten you, I can hack you, I can expose you, I can ruin you … ' - Time, 17 Feb 2023 No, not much to worry about at all. Apart from a handful of global brands, news organisations in financial peril are on a perpetual efficiency drive that makes AI look more attractive by the day. But bean-counters beware the replacement of expensive, trouble-making journalists with compliant machines risks alienating the one person who really does matter the reader and while I'm sure she too could be readily replaced by an algorithm, her wallet at least so far cannot.
Arabian Post
25-05-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
AI Missteps Erode Trust in Newsrooms
Major news organisations are grappling with the fallout from deploying artificial intelligence in content creation, as instances of fabricated material and misattributed authorship surface, raising concerns over journalistic integrity. The Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer faced backlash after publishing a summer reading list featuring non-existent books and fictitious expert quotes. The content, syndicated by King Features and crafted by freelance writer Marco Buscaglia using AI tools, included fabricated titles like 'Tidewater Dreams' by Isabel Allende. Both newspapers have since removed the content and issued statements condemning the breach of editorial standards. Similarly, Sports Illustrated encountered criticism for publishing articles under fake author names, with AI-generated headshots and biographies. The Arena Group, its publisher, attributed the content to third-party provider AdVon Commerce, asserting that the articles were human-written but acknowledging the use of pseudonyms. The controversy led to the dismissal of CEO Ross Levinsohn and mass layoffs, following the revocation of the magazine's publishing license.
The Star
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
US newspaper recommends books that don't exist through AI-generated reading list
An AI-generated reading list in the Sun-Times and Inquirer featured fake titles by real authors; both have apologised. – LYNDON FRENCH/The New York Times 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 bestsellers 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 AI making its way into the news. While generative AI has improved, there is still no way to ensure the systems produce accurate information. AI 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 Bennett would 'explore family bonds tested by natural disasters,' or that 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 AI 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 the 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,' Buscaglia said in an interview. It's fairly common for media organisations, especially resource-strapped local newsrooms, to rely on syndicates to supplement coverage. Just two months ago, 20% 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 AI 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 AI for news gathering, he said. 'We need better education for everyone from the freelancer level to the executive level,' said Simon, 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 CEO of the paper. The section was also removed from the Sun-Times' 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 AI 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. – By TALYA MINSBERG/ ©2025 The New York Times Company
Irish Examiner
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Séamas O'Reilly: We have elevated AI that almost never works as well as what it replaces
We all love a good summer read. How about Tidewater Dreams, a multi-generational family saga by Chilean-American novelist Isabel Allende, blending elements of magical realism with the themes of environmental disaster? Or Nightshade Market by Min Jin Lee, which depicts the intersecting lives of three women working in Seoul's illegal underground economy? Or Rebecca Makkai's Boiling Point, about a climate scientist who must reckon with shifting family ties when her daughter becomes an eco-activist? I mention them because the Chicago Sun-Times recommended all three as part of the 'Summer Reading List' it included within its 120,000-circulation paper last Sunday. There was only one small snag: none of them exist. The authors do, of course. Each is an internationally renowned and best-selling name in fiction, but the novels themselves were hallucinations dreamed from the digital ether by AI. In fact, of the 15 books the list recommended, 10 were invented, including works by Hamnet scribe Maggie O'Farrell, Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Percival Everett, and The Martian author Andy Weir. Reaction was swift and, as you'd expect, mortifying. The Sun-Times issued a statement saying it was appalled. The list's author, Marco Buscaglia was quickly identified, and admitted he often used AI for background in his writing, but hadn't caught the errors this time. 'I can't believe I missed it because it's so obvious,' he apologised. 'I'm completely embarrassed.' I don't wish to heap more embarrassment on Mr Buscaglia, but one wonders what type of 'background writing' involves simply generating an entire article with AI and then not checking if the contents make any sense. In his defence, he does not bear this responsibility alone, since no one at any stage of the editing, design or printing process spotted these aberrations, at either the Sun-Times, or the Philadelphia Inquirer, where it also ran. Ten completely invented books, previewed in major broadsheet newspapers, which were either never checked by a single human being, or were checked exclusively by people who did not think to verify any of the ten world-exclusive literary scoops its fraudulent contents suggested. It's been two months since I wrote about AI which, as someone who detests having to write about AI, feels like not much time at all. A quick look at recent headlines, however, suggests that there is little else to talk about. Consider that the CEO of language-learning app Duolingo claimed AI was a better teacher than humans but schools will still remain open in future 'because you still need childcare'; a Finnish man was sentenced in Scottish court for using AI to create images of young girls being abused; Google unveiled Project Astra, an AI client that will sit inside your phone listening to everything you say so it can provide unprompted advice at any time; the United Nations' International Labour Organization said that AI poses a bigger threat to jobs traditionally held by women than those of men; Silicon Valley Bank reported that 40% of cash raised by venture funds last year was for companies focusing on artificial intelligence; Reuters reported that data centre plans in the US are far outpacing expected demand; and Italian researchers found that, despite all their aforementioned hallucinations, errors, and contradictions, AI chatbots were more persuasive in online debates than their human counterparts 64% of the time. If that sounds like a lot of news for two months, well, I wish this were true. Every one of those headlines is from Tuesday, May 20, the same day the Chicago Sun-Times' reading list became a major story, and the day I began writing this column. With a trickling sense of dread I realise that I could, therefore, write an article just like this one every single day, each filled with brand-new examples of AI's constant enshittification of the media we consume, factless posturing from its creators, marketing overhype from its torch-bearers, and bovine vapidity now normalised among those who use it. I will dispense with the usual throat-clearing about AI's benefits. We all know what they are at this stage, and any time some researchers make a medical breakthrough, or a genuinely humane AI tool relieves the drudgery that ordinary people face in their daily lives, I'll always be happy to commend it. But this. This new reality we have created, in all its deadening sprawl and intellect-devouring insipidity, is to be detested. Where each new day brings a dozen clear examples of Big AI's philosophical bankruptcy, societal danger, and financial fraudulence, alongside a dozen more articles offering breathless. descriptions of its magical brilliance. We have elevated to sentience a technology that almost never works as well as what it replaces, and is still intellectually, morally, and creatively redundant when it does. Cobbled together from guesswork and plagiarised material, via processes that scorch the environment as they enrich the worst people on this quickly dying planet, the craven psychopaths making billions of dollars on false claims of its future viability, borne by distinctly bubble-shaped bluster about its current, constant, ever-increasing profitability. It is this, AI's main swizz, that irks me the most. Because its packaging as a cure-all for everything is the surface flash of a cruise ship magician; its real function is being a limitless cash trap for credulous investors, and a replacement for labour in companies – and, yes, newspapers – who worry less about the quality of their product than the costs of paying humans to deliver it. If what we're left with is slop, who cares? The pigs will drink it down. It's an abhorrence, based on a lie, rapidly remaking the world in its own tedious image. It all puts me in mind of a novel I read about recently. It was featured in a summer reading supplement. It's called The Last Algorithm by Andy Weir. It is, apparently, 'about a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness and has been secretly influencing global events for years'. This book, like the consciousness it describes, does not exist. But at this point, does anyone care?
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fake Books, Real Deception: How AI-Generated Summer Reading List Fooled Google, Readers
There could be plenty of good to come from artificial intelligence, including search results and fact-finding on the web. While artificial intelligence can help write stories, a newspaper found out the hard way that it's important to check the work of a writer, even if it's a computer. What Happened: The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper released a "Summer Reading lLst for 2025" as part of its "Best of Summer" section. The list ended up being made-up book titles from real authors and even later tricked Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL)-owned Google search engine. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — The entire list was made up by using artificial intelligence, as reported by 404 Media. For example, a book on the list was titled "Tidewater" by Isabel Allende and included a description of the book. The book list was written by Marco Buscaglia, according to the report. "I do use AI for background at times but always check out the material first. This time, I did not and I can't believe I missed it because it's so obvious. No excuses," Buscaglia told 404 Media. Buscaglia told 404 Media the error was on them "100 percent," and they were embarrassed by the mistake. 404 Media found that other sections of the Best of Summer Heat Index special featured AI-generated sections. Quotes from experts appear to be made up or from people who are not real experts in their respective fields. "We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak. It is not editorial content and was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom. We value your trust in our reporting and take this very seriously," the newspaper, which is owned by non-profit Chicago Public Media, said on It's Important: While many of the book titles and stories listed in the summer reading list were fake, web crawling done by Google search showed the books to be real. 404 Media shows a search for "Tidewater Dreams Isabel Allende" on Google. A previous search shows the AI Overview at the top of the search results to show that this title is a book by Isabel Allende, a collection of short stories. Allende is a real author. "The stories explore theme of love, loss, and the power of memory, often featuring strong female characters and a mystical, almost magical realism style," the description on Google reads. Allende never wrote a book titled "Tidewater Dreams." Searching for the same four words — "Tidewater Dreams Isabel Allende" — today reveals a much different result. Google's new AI Mode says the search "likely refers to a fabricated book title that was included in an AI-generated summer reading list published in several newspapers." Google says the book title is not a recognized literary work. While Google has corrected the error in search results, the national newsletter publishing a fake list of books gave some credibility to the titles that helped them briefly appear in Google search results. An important reminder that not everything you read on the internet is true and not everything that appears in Google searches is true. It's always important to check and verify sources and, in some cases, look for more than one source. Read Next: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Invest before it's too late. 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share with a $1000 minimum. Photo: fizkes via Shutterstock Send To MSN: Send to MSN Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Fake Books, Real Deception: How AI-Generated Summer Reading List Fooled Google, Readers originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
