❓WHAT HAPPENED: The New York Times severed ties with a freelance writer after discovering he used artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in writing a book review, which included unattributed similarities to a review published in The Guardian.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Freelance writer Alex Preston, The New York Times, and The Guardian.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The incident came to light following a January book review and was addressed by the NYT in March with an editor’s note.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Reliance on AI and inclusion of unattributed work by another writer is a serious violation of The Times‘s integrity and fundamental journalistic standards.” – NYT spokesman
🎯IMPACT: The case has heightened concerns about AI’s role in journalism and its potential to undermine trust in major publications.
The New York Times has cut ties with freelance writer Alex Preston after it was revealed that he used artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in drafting a book review. Published in January, Preston’s essay included sections that closely resembled a review of the same book written by Christobel Kent and published in The Guardian last August. The issue was flagged by a reader who noticed the similarities between the two separate reviews of Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea.
Following an internal investigation, Preston admitted to using an AI tool to draft the review and failing to identify the plagiarized sections. Subsequently, the freelance writer expressed regret, stating he was “hugely embarrassed” and described his actions as a “serious mistake.”
A spokesman for the newspaper stated, “Editors have appended a note to a book review written earlier this year by a freelance critic, who told The Times after publication that he had used an AI tool to assist him in producing the piece. This tool produced similarities to a book review published in The Guardian, which our editors’ note makes clear. For staff journalists and freelance writers alike, reliance on AI and inclusion of unattributed work by another writer is a serious violation of The Times‘s integrity and fundamental journalistic standards.”
The National Pulse previously reported that Sports Illustrated nearly closed down after being rocked by a scandal the magazine initially tried to deny, involving the use of AI-generated content published under the bylines of fictitious journalists. Additionally, in 2023, Axel Springer SE laid off around one-fifth of the staff at Bild—Europe’s highest-circulation newspaper—with their workflow being handled by AI tools instead. Likewise, CNN has also engaged in layoffs, with staff being replaced by AI.
This past March, The National Pulse revealed that Google had begun testing a feature that rewrites article headlines without seeking publishers’ permission or even notifying them. The trial expands on earlier artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as AI Overviews, which condense articles into short summaries.
According to data shared by ARK Invest, annual written output by AI exceeded that of humans in 2025. Projections suggest AI could surpass the entire written record of human civilization by the end of this decade.
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