NYT's Canada Bureau Chief Used AI for Fake Poilievre Quote ft. Michelle Cyca (Podcast)
What's going on down there?
This week on The North State, I speak to Michelle Cyca, conservation and fellowships bureau chief at The Narwhal and contributing writer to The Walrus, about the New York Times admitting to fabricating a fake Poilievre quote with AI . RSS feed here. Apple Podcasts link here.
Description
In an April 14 story by New York Times reporter and Canada Bureau Chief Matina Stevis-Gridneff, she used AI to fabricate a quote by federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre that did not exist. In a May 1 correction, the NYT stated "The reporter should have checked the accuracy of what the A.I. tool returned." How did such a big mistake get through one of the biggest newspapers in the world? What does this say about the state of reporting at the US paper of record? When will we ever escape this nightmare? Conservation and fellowships bureau chief at The Narwhal and contributing writer to The Walrus, Michelle Cyca joins Scott to discuss the high-profile gong show.
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Sources and Further Reading
Carney Seals a Majority and Remakes Canada’s Liberal Party - New York Times
How The New York Times Uses A.I. for Journalism
NYT reporter used a hallucinated AI quote attributed to Pierre Poilievre - Karyn Pugliese
Western Canada Correspondent - NYT Careers
Catching Junk AI Stories; Why We’re Delaying the Food Issue by a Week - The Grind
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era - The Local
People really hate AI but not as much as Iran—or Democrats - Fortune
Your AI Use Is Breaking My Brain - 404 Media
Students Boo Commencement Speaker After She Calls AI the ‘Next Industrial Revolution’ - 404 Media
