Senior Journalist Suspended Over AI-Generated Quotes
Mediahuis, the publisher of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and the Irish Independent, has suspended Peter Vandermeersch, a senior journalist, after he admitted to using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to incorrectly attribute quotes to individuals.
Peter Vandermeersch, formerly head of Mediahuis's Irish operations and a fellow of “journalism and society” at the European publishing group, acknowledged that he “fell into the trap of hallucinations” when employing AI-generated summaries. He has been suspended from his role following an investigation by NRC, a Dutch newspaper where Vandermeersch served as editor-in-chief during the 2010s.
The experienced journalist explained that he used AI tools such as Perplexity and Google’s NotebookLM to summarize reports but failed to verify the accuracy of the quotes derived from those summaries. These quotes were subsequently published in his Substack newsletter.
The investigation by NRC revealed that Vandermeersch had published “dozens” of false quotes, with seven individuals quoted in his posts denying they made the statements attributed to them.
“I wrongly put words into people’s mouths, when I should have presented them as paraphrases. In some cases, it reflected my interpretation of their words. That was not just careless – it was wrong,” Vandermeersch wrote in a post headlined “I am admitting my mistake”.
“It is particularly painful that I made precisely the mistake I have repeatedly warned colleagues about: these language models are so good that they produce irresistible quotes you are tempted to use as an author. Of course, I should have verified them. The necessary ‘human oversight’, which I consistently advocate, fell short.”
Vandermeersch’s blog, Press and Democracy, regularly discusses “the vital connection between a free press and a healthy democracy.”
In response to the situation, Mediahuis chief executive Gert Ysebaert issued a statement:
“At Mediahuis we apply strict rules for the use of AI, where diligence, human oversight and transparency are essential. The fact that these principles were not followed runs counter to the standards we uphold and to our commitment to readers that we stand for reliable journalism. We are discussing this with Peter Vandermeersch and have decided to temporarily suspend him from his role as fellow.”
Mediahuis has also removed several articles written by Vandermeersch from the Irish Independent website.
AI tools such as ChatGPT are widely used by hundreds of millions of people for various tasks, ranging from simple activities like suggesting recipes to complex academic research. However, the technology can produce inaccurate or fabricated information if not carefully managed.
Vandermeersch admitted to a second error by not promptly correcting the false quotes, instead leaving that responsibility to a publication he had led for nearly ten years. He expressed enthusiasm about AI’s potential and his desire to experiment extensively with it.
“Journalism is human work,” he wrote. “I remain convinced that AI can be a powerful tool – one that can help journalism become better, dig deeper, and be more precise. But not by using AI in the way I did in the early months of this blog.”
Vandermeersch declined to provide further comment.
