🗞️ Major Newspapers Completely Duped by AI

Two major newspapers just got totally exposed for recommending a bunch of fake books for summer reading.

Yep, like, completely made-up titles written by AI.

This all started when The Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a “Summer Reading List for 2025” in their print editions (last week). At first glance, it looked solid—big-name authors, thoughtful blurbs, the kind of list you’d rip out and take to the bookstore.

Except... Reddit sleuths quickly noticed something weird. Only five out of the fifteen books actually exist. The rest? Hallucinated by a chatbot.

One of the most awkward moments? The list claimed Brit Bennett—author of The Vanishing Half—had a new book out called Hurricane Season that “explores family bonds tested by natural disasters.”

Sounds deep. Very Oprah’s Book Club. But also, very fake. The truth is, she never wrote that. The book doesn’t exist. Like, at all.

So how did this AI fever dream make it into two respected newspapers?

Well, meet Marco Buscaglia, the guy behind the list. He created it for a syndicated insert that both papers published. Turns out, he used AI to generate the content, admitted he didn’t double-check anything, and then just… sent it off.

The Sun-Times immediately tried to backpedal, saying the insert wasn’t their editorial content and hadn’t been approved by their newsroom. They posted on Bluesky, making it clear they take the mistake seriously and are “looking into it.”

Meanwhile, the Inquirer was doing its own clean-up, pulling the content from its digital edition and admitting the AI-generated fluff violated their internal policies. According to their CEO, the newsroom had nothing to do with any of it.

But here's the thing: there was no clear sign that the content wasn’t written by actual journalists.

To the average reader flipping through the paper, it looked official. Like something the paper’s culture editor would have approved over a cappuccino. But nope—it was all a bot doing its best “pretend to be a book critic” impression.

And honestly, this kind of mess couldn’t come at a worse time.

The Sun-Times (which was bought by Chicago Public Media in 2022) has already had a rough year—laying off 20% of its staff back in March. And WBEZ, the NPR station under the same umbrella, has cut multiple podcasts and gone through several rounds of layoffs.

The Inquirer? Same boat. They also did layoffs this year, and trust in local journalism is hanging by a thread as it is.

The bigger picture here?

AI hallucinations are still a very real problem.

Even the latest models sometimes spit out total fiction, but with the confident swagger of a tenured journalist. And when no human editor steps in to check the facts, this is what happens: Fake books. Fake blurbs. Real outrage.

So yeah. An AI wrote a summer reading list. The newspapers printed it. Most of the books were totally made up. Everyone’s embarrassed. Readers are confused. And somewhere, Brit Bennett is probably wondering why strangers keep congratulating her on a novel she’s never heard of.

If you ask me, we’ve officially reached the point where AI needs a babysitter. Because left alone, it’ll just start writing fanfic and calling it journalism.

Full story here.

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 🥊 Huawei’s AI Chips Spark New U.S.-China Clash

So, remember when the U.S. dropped those new guidelines warning companies not to touch advanced Chinese chips—especially Huawei’s Ascend AI chips?

Yeah, well… China saw that and said, “Absolutely not.”

Now they’re calling it out as discriminatory and straight-up sabotage—accusing the U.S. of wrecking the diplomatic progress both sides made literally days ago.

Here’s what went down:

The U.S. Commerce Department issued a fresh warning, saying that using Chinese AI chips could violate export controls—basically telling American firms not to even think about it.

And of course, China—very much not amused—fired back, demanding the U.S. “correct its wrongdoings” and reverse the chip guidance… or brace for impact.

In short, China’s Commerce Ministry made it crystal clear: if the U.S. keeps pushing, they’re ready to clap back with “resolute measures.”

They’re accusing the U.S. move of being:

• An abuse of export control laws

• Based on “unfounded accusations” 

• A typical act of unilateral bullying and protectionism.

• And here’s the mic-drop line from Beijing: “Trying to trip others won’t make yourself run faster.”

Translation? Sabotaging us won’t make your tech win any medals.

What makes all this even more awkward? The U.S. and China just agreed to a surprisingly friendly 90-day tariff truce after high-level talks in Geneva—where both sides promised to ease up on the whole triple-digit tariff drama.

Even more ironic? China’s Vice Commerce Minister and the U.S. Trade Rep literally met again last week in South Korea during an APEC meeting—but no one’s saying anything about what went down. So yeah, we’re all just out here guessing.

Bottom line? Washington’s trying to protect its AI edge.Beijing’s not cool with being cast as the villain. And even though both sides smiled for the cameras recently, behind the scenes… it’s giving “we’re not over this.”

Full story here.

🧱Around The AI Block

• 👨‍💻 Mistral launches Devstral AI model for coding.

• 🤑 Google is stuffing even more ads into its AI results.

• 🛒 Amazon launches generative AI tool to answer shoppers' questions.

• 🛍️ Shopify unveils AI-driven store builder to revolutionize E-commerce.

• 🤦 Google rejected giving publishers more choice to opt out of AI Search.

• 🚗 Volvo will be the first to install Google’s Gemini in its cars.

• 🤖 Google’s AI agents will bring you the web now.

• 🚀 Meta launches a program to encourage startups to use its Llama AI models.

🛠️ Trending Tools

• RescueTime tracks time spent on applications and websites to provide insights into productivity and help manage time effectively.

• QuillBot is a paraphrasing tool that rewrites text to improve clarity and avoid plagiarism, also offering grammar checks.

• Zapier automates workflows by connecting different apps and services, enabling automatic data transfer and task automation.

• Synthesia creates professional videos with avatars in multiple languages.

• Trello is a project management tool that uses AI to automate tasks and workflows within boards and cards.

🤖 ChatGPT Prompt Of The Day: Turn FAQs into Persuasive Sales Copy

Your FAQs aren’t just a list of answered questions—they’re a goldmine for sales.

They reveal real objections or hesitations, so by answering them clearly and confidently, you can address concerns before they arise, build trust, and guide potential customers toward a purchase.

This approach saves you time and strengthens your messaging by turning genuine concerns into powerful sales points.

Here’s how to use this strategy effectively:

1. Choose Real, Frequent Questions: Pick questions you actually receive often to make the copy relevant and authentic.

2. Focus on Objections: Identify concerns or doubts behind the questions and address them head-on in your sales copy.

3. Use Clear, Reassuring Language: Your tone should ease worries and build confidence in your product or service.

4. Include Calls to Action: After answering, encourage readers to take the next step—which could be to buy, contact, or learn more.

5. Keep It Conversational: Write like you’re talking to a friend to make the copy engaging and relatable.

Here’s an example:

Turn these 3 common questions I get into persuasive sales copy that removes objections and builds trust. For each question:

Identify the underlying concern or objection behind the question.

Address that objection clearly and confidently using reassuring, easy-to-understand language.

Use a conversational tone that sounds friendly and relatable, as if speaking directly to a potential customer.

Include a strong call to action at the end of each response that encourages the reader to take the next step (such as buying the product, contacting us, or learning more).

Make sure the sales copy feels authentic by basing it on real, frequently asked questions to ensure relevance and trustworthiness.

Here are the questions: [insert questions here]

Here’s a sneak peak:

Upgrade now to see the complete prompt video. And vote this for your Workout of the Week!

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