\n<\/p>\n
The New York Times confirmed that they\u2019ve cut ties with a freelance writer who stands accused of using AI to generate his book review. Alex Preston said he\u2019s \u201chugely embarrassed\u201d by the whole debacle.<\/span><\/p>\n The legacy paper was alerted by a reader who noticed that Alex Preston\u2019s review of \u201cWatching Over Her\u201d by Jean-Baptiste Andrea was suspiciously similar to the review of the same title that Christobel Kent wrote for The Guardian last August.<\/span><\/p>\n When confronted by the Times, Preston admitted to using AI for assistance in writing his review and said he did not realize it had lifted copycat lines from anywhere else.<\/span><\/p>\n The New York Times sent a note to The Guardian, saying, \u201c[Preston\u2019s] reliance on AI and his use of unattributed work by another writer are a clear violation of the Times\u2019s standards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI made a serious mistake in using an AI tool on a draft review I had written, and I failed to identify and remove overlapping language from another review that the AI dropped in,\u201d Preston said in his statement to the Guardian, as the outlet <\/span>noted<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI am hugely embarrassed by what happened and truly sorry. I took responsibility immediately and apologized to the New York Times, and I also want to apologize to Christobel Kent and to the Guardian.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The phrase \u201clazy Machiavellian Stefano\u201d from The Guardian version became \u201clazy, Machiavellian Stefano\u201d in the New York Times version.<\/span><\/p>\n The Guardian described the book as \u201cmost significantly a song of love to a country of contradictions, battered, war-torn, divided, misguided and miraculous: an Italy where life is costume and the performance of art, and where circuses spring up on wasteland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This is very similar to the Times version, which said the characters \u201cpopulate what is ultimately a love song to a country of contradictions: battered, divided, misguided, and miraculous. This is an Italy where life is performance, where circuses rise on wasteland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The outlet noted that Preston has written for The Observer, The Financial Times, The Guardian, and The Economist. He\u2019s also written six books, including the recent release, \u201cA Stranger in Corfu.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n