Wyoming newspaper editor says a new reporter's stories carried AI-generated quotes from six people, including the governor; the reporter resigned
In summer 2024 a reporter who had joined the Cody Enterprise, a small newspaper in Cody, Wyoming, about two months earlier wrote stories with the help of generative AI. A reporter at the competing Powell Tribune noticed robotic phrasing and quotes that seemed off, including a 26 June story about a local parade that ended with an explanation of how to structure a news story. According to the Powell Tribune reporter, the Enterprise reporter admitted using AI in his stories, and he then resigned. The Enterprise's editor told the Associated Press that a review had found seven stories with AI-generated quotes from six people, and that people he spoke to in the review said they had never talked to the reporter. A spokesperson for Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said one quote attributed to the governor was entirely fabricated and another partly fabricated. The editor and publisher apologised in editorials, and the editor said the paper would adopt an AI policy. The reporter did not respond to the AP. The AI tool used is not identified.
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 01/11/2026