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Updated May 21 with statements from the Chicago Sun-Times and King Features.

If there’s one tradition that readers can rely on, it’s a summer reading list appearing in newspapers to help you decide what books to take to the beach. This year, the Chicago Sun-Times found an exciting new twist to the formula, by publishing a book list that features books that do not exist.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t an intentional gag, but instead the result of the piece being written by generative AI, and then published without seemingly any kind of editorial oversight — in other words, think of it as a glimpse into the future, as journalism (like seemingly all creative endeavors) becomes overrun by executives looking to increase output while lowering costs.

The piece was filed by Marco Buscaglia, who told 404 Media, “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. On me 100 percent and I'm completely embarrassed.” He added, “This is just idiotic of me, really embarrassed. When I found it [online], it was almost surreal to see.”

The piece went viral on social media after being shared by novelist Rachael King on BlueSky. (The 'TBR, etc.' account apparently shared the image “on another platform” initially, per King.) Amongst the non-existent books recommended in the list — all of which are accompanied by plot synopses, which again, are AI-generated because the books do not exist — are Isabel Allende’s Tidewater Dreams, Maggie O’Farrell’s Migrations, and The Last Algorithm from The Martian writer Andy Weir, the synopsis of which almost sounds like an intentional gag: “The story follows a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness — and has been secretly influencing global events for years,” it reads.

The Chicago Sun-Times initially released a brief statement on the matter via social media in response to author Chuck Wendig: “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. More info will be provided soon.”

That "more info" arrived in a full press release later that day, where the Sun-Times happily pushed blame onto King Features Syndicate, a third party content provider and partner of the newspaper, and tried to position itself as part of the vanguard against the use of generative AI in journalism.

"On Sunday, May 18, the print and e-paper editions of the Chicago Sun-Times included a special section titled the Heat Index: Your Guide to the Best of Summer, featuring a summer reading list, that our circulation department licensed from King Features, a unit of Hearst, one of our national content partners," the explanation read, in part. Later in the piece, it explained, "King Features worked with a freelancer who used an AI agent to help build out this special section. It was inserted into our paper without review from our editorial team, and we presented the section without any acknowledgement that it was from a third-party organization."

Got that? It was King Features and the circulation department at the Sun-Times that's to blame, not the editorial team. To double down, the release continued, "We are in a moment of great transformation in journalism and technology, and at the same time our industry continues to be besieged by business challenges. This should be a learning moment for all journalism organizations: Our work is valued — and valuable — because of the humanity behind it... 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."

The piece also included a statement from King Features, which read in part, "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. We regret this incident and are working with the handful of publishing partners who acquired this supplement." King Features' statement also made it clear that the company has "a strict policy with our staff, cartoonists, columnists, and freelance writers against the use of AI to create content," which might come as a surprise to the freelance writers who are clearly using AI to create content."

This feels like a good point to confirm again that Popverse does not use generative AI in the creation of our material; all mistakes you read on this site come from genuinely confused human beings, guaranteed.

Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

• The hottest upcoming fiction
• Queer romance to add to your reading list
• A reading guide to Cassandar Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles

...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.