NYT Corrects AI-Generated Quotation in Poilievre Article
An editors' note was released by The New York Times following the revelation that a quote attributed to Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Canadian Conservatives, was actually generated by AI. The AI produced a summary that was mistakenly presented as a direct quote, which the journalist did not confirm. The article has since been amended to feature a correct quotation from Poilievre's speech in April, where he did not label politicians who switched sides as turncoats. This correction was documented by Simon Willison and shared on May 10, 2026.
Key facts
- The New York Times published an editors' note about an AI-generated quotation.
- The quotation was attributed to Pierre Poilievre, Conservative leader of Canada.
- The AI tool created a summary of Poilievre's views and rendered it as a direct quote.
- The reporter failed to check the accuracy of the AI tool's output.
- The corrected article now quotes from a speech Poilievre delivered in April.
- In that speech, Poilievre did not refer to politicians who changed allegiances as turncoats.
- The correction was collected by Simon Willison.
- The correction was posted on 10th May 2026.
Entities
Institutions
- The New York Times
Locations
- Canada