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NYT Drops Writer Over AI-Assisted Review
2 Apr
Summary
- A journalist was dismissed for using AI in a book review.
- The AI-generated text resembled an earlier published review.
- The newspaper stated this violated their ethical standards.

A freelance journalist has lost his role with The New York Times following revelations that he used an artificial intelligence tool to assist in writing a book review. The review, penned by Alex Preston, covered Jean-Baptiste Andrea's novel "Watching Over Her."
Readers and The New York Times identified significant overlap in language and descriptive details between Preston's review and an earlier piece on the same book published by The Guardian. The newspaper subsequently issued an editors' note confirming Preston's admission of AI use.
This reliance on AI and the incorporation of unattributed material from another writer's work were deemed clear violations of The Times' established standards. Preston had reportedly not used AI for previous submissions to the paper. As a result of this breach, he will no longer contribute reviews to the publication.