If you picked up the Chicago Sun-Times or another major newspaper recently and checked out the “Heat Index: Your Guide to the Best of Summer” book list, you might have had trouble finding many of the recommended titles. That’s because at least 10 of them, like “Tidewater Dreams” by Isabel Allende and “The Last Algorithm” by Andy Weir, don’t actually exist.
The list, which also featured names of other well-known authors, was part of a special 56-page advertising supplement produced by King Features Syndicate, a division of the Hearst Corporation. King Features supplies content like comics, puzzles, games and lifestyle features to newspapers around the country. The same summer reading list, created using artificial intelligence, also appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and may have been featured in other outlets as well.
Unbiased. Straight Facts.TM
Italian daily newspaper Il Foglio was the first newspaper in the world to publish an entire edition written by AI as part of a monthlong experiment on how the technology is reshaping journalism.
Writer failed to fact-check AI bot
The list’s author, Marco Buscaglia, a contract writer for King Features, took full responsibility for the mistake. The problem started, he said, when he relied too heavily on AI for research and didn’t double-check what it produced.
“A really stupid error on my part,” Buscaglia wrote on Facebook, according to ABC News.
“This time, I did not (fact-check) and can’t believe I missed it because it’s so obvious,” Buscaglia told 404 Media. “No excuses … On me 100 percent and I’m completely embarrassed.”
Speaking to The Atlantic, Buscaglia said he typically gathers book recommendations from reputable sources and includes proper citations.
“I’ll find things online and say, ‘Hey, according to Oprah.com, a mai tai is a perfect drink.’ I’ll source it; I’ll say where it’s from,” Buscaglia said.
However, in this case, the AI-generated list was submitted and approved by the syndication company without any editorial review or human fact-checking.
One of the authors on the list, Rebecca Makkai, confirmed on Bluesky that she did not write a book called “Boiling Point.”
“This was not the day I expected to have,” Makkai said.
Enough blame to go around
“This is licensed content that was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom,” Victor Lim, a spokesperson for the Chicago Sun-Times, said in a statement to NPR. “But it is unacceptable for any content we provide to our readers to be inaccurate.”
Lisa Hughes, publisher and CEO of The Philadelphia Inquirer, gave a similar response, according to the New York Post.
“The Inquirer newsroom is not involved in the production of these syndicated features, nor was it involved in creating Heat Index,” Hughes said.
The Inquirer has worked with King Features for over 40 years to provide content like comics and puzzles.
King Features has since fired Buscaglia. Still, the incident highlights growing concerns about the use of AI in journalism, especially as more media companies turn to automation to fill content gaps caused by layoffs and budget cuts.
The Sun-Times’ parent company, Chicago Public Media, is currently facing a projected $3-5 million budget shortfall. In March 2025, the Sun-Times Guild confirmed that seven union members accepted buyouts and would be leaving the newsroom.
In response to the summer reading list, the Guild said it is “deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work.”
“We take great pride in the union-produced journalism that goes into the respected pages of our newspaper and on our website,” the Guild wrote on X, adding that “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.”
A growing trend
Other outlets have faced similar issues with AI-generated content. In 2023, Sports Illustrated cut ties with a content provider after it was discovered that stories were published under fake bylines. Although the company denied the stories were written by AI, the damage had been done. That same year, CNET corrected 41 out of 77 AI-generated articles after an internal review found numerous factual mistakes.
Even smaller newsrooms have been caught in AI-related controversies. A reporter at the Cody Enterprise in Wyoming resigned after it was revealed he had used AI to invent quotes in his articles.
So if you’re at your local library looking for “Hurricane Season” by Brit Bennett, don’t bother — the title is real, but the author is Fernanda Melchor.
