Social media exploded this week when readers posted pictures of a summer reading guide recommending nonexistent titles by real authors. It was included in a promotional insert alongside major newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer.
The insert does include a credited name throughout: freelance journalist Marco Buscaglia. 404 Media was able to reach Buscaglia and get him to comment on the record (sub required). He admits to using AI to generate the list and now feels embarrassed about it. While explaining there can be no excuse for what he did, he also says he didn’t know where his work would appear when asked to write the supplement.
Here are just a few of the titles recommended that don’t exist (but maybe the authors should work up proposals?): The Last Algorithm by Andy Weir, Tidewater Dreams by Isabel Allende, Migrations by Maggie O’Farrell, and Salt and Honey by Delia Owens.
I’m as disappointed in this happening as the next person, especially because this example will be cherry-picked and held up as evidence that people, not least writers, cannot be trusted to use AI with a modicum of sense.
But rather than be outraged at this freelancer or newspaper, I find myself wondering what changes must be on the horizon for journalism and advertising-driven content. Will newspapers and magazines be forced to take greater responsibility for advertising supplements they carry? Are supplements that deliver generic content now a vestigial tail of print publications? How will advertisers and sponsors think about generating, paying for, and vetting content in the future? If any of these entities want to remain in business and keep earning advertiser (and reader) dollars, they cannot continue business as usual.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
