{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-21T06:58:35.134Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"chicago-sun-times","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-syndicator-drops-freelance-writer-after-ai-generated-summer-reading-list-of-nonexistent-books-ran-in-chicago-sun-times","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'On Sunday, May 18, the print and e-paper editions of the Chicago Sun-Times included a special section titled the Heat Index'; 'that list was created through the use of an AI tool and recommended books that do not exist'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'A check by Ars Technica shows that only five of the fifteen recommended books in the list actually exist'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The summer reading list in the Heat Index section that the Chicago Sun-Times carried on 18 May 2025 recommended books that do not exist.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's own admission and Ars Technica's independent check of the titles."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'with the remainder being fabricated titles falsely attributed to well-known authors'; 'All of the authors are real people.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Ars Technica found that ten of the fifteen listed books were fabricated titles attributed to real authors.","causal_attribution":"Ars Technica's count; not checked by a second inspected source."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'King Features worked with a freelancer who used an AI agent to help build out this special section.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'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,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The freelance writer who produced the section used an AI tool to generate the list and did not check its output on this occasion.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's account of what King Features told it and the freelancer's own admission to 404 Media, relayed by Ars Technica, both say he used AI; that he did not check the output rests on his admission alone, so the claim is reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'saying that his use of AI violated its polities and it was terminating its relationship with him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"King Features said the freelancer used AI in the story development without disclosure, contrary to its policy, and that it was terminating its relationship with him.","causal_attribution":"King Features' statement, relayed by both sources; the termination itself is attested only by that statement."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'that our circulation department licensed from King Features'; 'It was inserted into our paper without review from our editorial team'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'It also ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer last week.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The section was licensed from King Features and inserted without review by the Sun-Times editorial team; Ars Technica reports that it also ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's account of its own process and Ars Technica's report of the second placement."}],"effects":[{"label":"freelance writer's working relationship with the syndicator terminated after his undisclosed AI use","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://chicago.suntimes.com/press-room/2025/05/20/chicago-sun-times-response-to-may-18-special-section","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 (HTTP 200); the newspaper's own statement, which also quotes King Features' statement. No translation was needed.","independence_group":"chicago-sun-times-statement"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/05/chicago-sun-times-prints-summer-reading-list-full-of-fake-books/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 (HTTP 200). Ars Technica's own count of the books is independent of the newspaper; its account of the freelancer's admission relays 404 Media and its account of the termination relays King Features' statement.","independence_group":"ars-technica-sun-times-report"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool the freelancer used; the inspected sources name none.","What the freelancer's arrangement with King Features was worth and whether he lost other work.","Whether any author credited with an invented book took action."],"geography":{"basis":"The section ran in the Chicago Sun-Times and, per Ars Technica, the Philadelphia Inquirer, both US newspapers. Where the freelancer lives or worked is not stated and is not used.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because the Chicago Sun-Times states that an AI tool produced a syndicated reading list of nonexistent books, the freelancer admitted using AI without checking it, and King Features said it was ending its relationship with him over the undisclosed AI use. Both bodies were read in full; the termination rests on King Features' statement.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-21"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Chicago Sun-Times states that the reading list was created through the use of an AI tool and recommended books that do not exist, and that the freelancer used an AI agent to help build the section. The freelancer told 404 Media, as relayed by Ars Technica, that he used AI and did not check the material this time (communicated_with: the tool's output reached him and he used it). Ars Technica's own check found ten of fifteen titles fabricated. King Features' statement connects the termination to his undisclosed use of AI in the story development. No product is named.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Syndicator says freelancer used AI without disclosure and ends its relationship with him after reading list of nonexistent books ran in Chicago Sun-Times","summary":"On Sunday 18 May 2025 the Chicago Sun-Times print and e-paper editions carried a licensed special section, the Heat Index, whose summer reading list recommended books that do not exist. The newspaper said the list was created through the use of an AI tool and that King Features, the syndicator, had worked with a freelancer who used an AI agent to help build the section. Ars Technica's check found that only five of the fifteen recommended books exist, the rest being fabricated titles attributed to real authors. The freelancer told 404 Media, as relayed by Ars Technica, that he had used AI and had not checked the material this time. King Features said the freelancer used AI in its story development without disclosing it, contrary to its policy, and that it was terminating its relationship with him.","incidentDate":"2025-05-18","incidentEndDate":"2025-05-20","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-05-20","aiSystem":"AI tool (described by the Chicago Sun-Times as an AI agent) that a freelance writer used to generate a syndicated summer reading list; no product is named in the inspected sources","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI writing tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to King Features' statement, relayed by the Chicago Sun-Times and Ars Technica, the syndicator ended its relationship with the freelance writer whose AI-generated summer reading list of nonexistent books it had distributed.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the freelance writer who used the AI tool and whose working relationship King Features said it was terminating. The authors credited with invented books and the newspapers' readers are not counted, because no adverse consequence for them is reported.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://chicago.suntimes.com/press-room/2025/05/20/chicago-sun-times-response-to-may-18-special-section","primarySourceLabel":"Chicago Sun-Times: response to the May 18 special section (20 May 2025)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-21T03:02:09.780905+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-21T03:02:09.780905+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chicago-sun-times","king-features","syndicated-content","fabricated-books","freelancer","contract-terminated"]}]}