Newspapers print an AI reading list of books that don't exist

On May 18, 2025 the Chicago Sun-Times ran a 64-page summer insert called Heat Index. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran it too. It came from King Features, a Hearst unit, and was written by a freelancer. Its summer reading list paired real authors with books they never wrote. Ten of the 15 titles did not exist. The Sun-Times said the list was made with an AI tool and went in without editorial review. It pulled the section from its e-paper and did not charge subscribers for the edition. King Features ended its work with the freelancer. A newsroom review later found invented sources and quotes elsewhere in the section.