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* 404 Media…
The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper’s “Best of Summer” section published over the weekend contains a guide to summer reads that features real authors and fake books that they did not write was partially generated by artificial intelligence, the person who generated it told 404 Media.
The article, called “Summer Reading list for 2025,” suggests reading Tidewater by Isabel Allende, a “multigenerational saga set in a coastal town where magical realism meets environmental activism. Allende’s first climate fiction novel explores how one family confronts rising sea levels while uncovering long-buried secrets.” It also suggests reading The Last Algorithm by Andy Weir, “another science-driven thriller” by the author of The Martian. “This time, the story follows a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness—and has been secretly influencing global events for years.” Neither of these books exist, and many of the books on the list either do not exist or were written by other authors than the ones they are attributed to.
The article is not bylined but was written by Marco Buscaglia, whose name is on most of the other articles in the 64-page section. Buscaglia told 404 Media via email and on the phone that the list was AI-generated. “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,” he said. “On me 100 percent and I’m completely embarrassed.” […]
The AI-generated article was first noticed by a book podcaster named Tina on Threads. It was then posted by Rachael King to Bluesky, where it quickly went viral. […]
Other articles in the Heat Index insert have what appear to be AI-generated sections as well. For example, in an article called “Hanging Out: Inside America’s growing hammock culture,” Buscaglia quotes “Dr. Jennifer Campos, a professor of leisure studies at the University of Colorado, in her 2023 research paper published in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.” A search for Campos in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography does not return any results. While it’s not exactly clear why the AI said this, the only mention of “Jennifer Campos” on the University of Colorado’s website is about the graduation of a student named Jennifer Campos, who works in advertising.
* OK, Buscaglia made the mistakes, but how did the articles make it into the Sun-Times?…
…Adding… Sun-Times Guild…
The Sun-Times Guild is aware of the third-party “summer guide” content in the Sunday, May 18 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
This was a syndicated section produced externally without the knowledge of the members of our newsroom.
We take great pride in the union-produced journalism that goes into the respected pages of our newspaper and on our website. We’re deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work.
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.
Our members go to great lengths to build trust with our sources and communities and are horrified by this slop syndication.
We call on Chicago Public Media management to do everything it can to prevent repeating this disaster in the future.
…Adding… The Sun-Times…
Our partner confirmed that a freelancer used an AI agent to write the article. This should be a learning moment for all of journalism that our work is valued because of the relationship our very real, human reporters and editors have with our audiences.
At Chicago Public Media, we are proud of our credible, independent journalism created for and by people. And part of the journalistic process is a commitment to acknowledging mistakes. It is unacceptable that this content was inaccurate, and it is equally unacceptable that we did not make it clear to readers that the section was produced outside the Sun-Times newsroom. Our audiences expect content with our name on it to meet our editorial standards.
What we are doing
- Subscribers will not be charged for this premium edition.
- The section is being removed from our e-paper version and will be replaced with this note.
- We are updating our policies to ensure that all such third-party licensed editorial content meets the same editorial standards as content we create ourselves.
- Moving forward, we will explicitly identify third-party licensed editorial content and ensure transparency about its origin.
- We are reviewing our relationship with this national content partner to ensure that mistakes of this nature no longer happen.We are committed to making sure this never happens again. 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.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:44 pm
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For starters, Marco Buscaglia’s byline needs to never appear in the Sun-Times again.
Comment by Northsider Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:51 pm
According to the Threads post, the exact same AI “article” was published in the Philly Inquirer last week. So not only was it BS, it was syndicated BS.
Comment by Minnesotan Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:53 pm
The Bright One- Not so much
Comment by West Sider Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:56 pm
Pro-Tip maybe the Sun-Times should use its union journalists, not freelance ex-Tribbies.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:58 pm
- “I do use AI for background at times -
Background? You clearly let AI write the entire piece and didn’t even bother giving it a read.
It is wild to me how lazy some people can be. Time to cut ties, S-T.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:58 pm
It’s been noted since this little bit of fraud broke that the section also features AI-generated images. “Mistake,” my tuchus.
Comment by Roadrager Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:03 pm
Sounds like this Buscaglia was a freelancer, not a staffer. Still, there are a lot of underemployed freelancers out there; there’s no reason to hire one with an AI scandal in his past.
It’s funny–as I was rerading that insert on Sunday night, I thought that the writing sounded kind of generic and AI-like, and I wondered if I could even tell the difference. Looks like my gut instinct was right after all.
Comment by Benjamin Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:09 pm
“AI is infallible. AI is never wrong. AI is the Light and the Way. Blessed be AI.”
AI is the new self-driving car. Not ready for the real world, yet forced on the masses.
Comment by thisjustinagain Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:19 pm
Do any news outlets still have old-fashioned copy editing desks?
About what year or years did they disappear from the Sun-Times?
It’s just tragic to me how owners of news outlets care so little about the trust of their readers that they all decided about 15-20 years ago to eat their seed corn by purging the copy desks who stopped so many trust-damaging mistakes and errors before publication.
Sure many errors still got through back then. But this AI slop wouldn’t have.
Would love to put my money behind a publication that pledges to be 100% AI-free in their journalism output.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:02 pm
Since few buy S-T and eve fewer read it WHO CARES. Just don’t AI Capt Fax…..Never, never never
Comment by Annon'in Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:10 pm
Always doesn’t mean what he thinks it does.
Comment by HSI Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:32 pm
I was a freelance writer during the good times, when there were zillions of magazines on the stands. I got paid $3 a word and more. It was GREAT. But now we have freelance writers trying to make ends meet on 50 cents/word, and less. I don’t excuse this writer for taking the easy way out, but I have known more than a few good writers who took on a few assignments too many and made very bad decisions under the stress of overwhelming deadlines.
Comment by Soccermom Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 5:25 pm