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A New York Times critic used AI to write his review – but criticism is deeply human

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 1061 words · By Bec Kavanagh
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What to know about A New York Times critic used AI to write his review – but criticism is deeply human

An author and freelance journalist has admitted to using AI to help him write a book review for the New York Times.

Propaganda risk 30%
Claims checked 16
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

An author and freelance journalist has admitted to using AI to help him write a book review for the New York Times.

Why it matters

Alex Preston’s review of Jean-Baptiste Andrea’s novel Watching Over Her, published by the New York Times in January 2026, draws phrases and full paragraphs from Christobel Kent’s Guardian review.

Common ground

The “error” was brought to light by a reader, who alerted the New York Times to the similarities.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/a-new-york-times-critic-used-ai-to-write-his-review-…

analyticsAnalysis

30%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 16 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
schedule Pending 6
verified Verified By Reference 3
help
Claim 1: “The Times promptly dropped Preston, calling his 'reliance on A.I. and his use of unattributed work by another writer' a 'clear violation of the Times’s standards'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about the New York Times terminating Preston for AI reliance and unattributed work.
help
Claim 2: “Preston’s apology to the Guardian raises more questions than it resolves.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about the public response to the review controversy.
schedule
Claim 3: “In 2023, German artist Boris Eldagsen sparked controversy when he revealed that his prize-winning photograph The Electrician was AI generated.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 4: “Preston told the Guardian he is 'hugely embarrassed' and 'made a huge mistake'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about Alex Preston's apology to the Guardian.
verified
Claim 5: “Alex Preston’s review of Jean-Baptiste Andrea’s novel Watching Over Her, published by the New York Times in January 2026, draws phrases and full paragraphs from Christobel Kent’s Guardian review.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries for Alex Preston (author), Alex Winter, and New York Yankees do not reference the alleged plagiarism claims, Christobel Kent, or the 2026 New York Times review. No direct evidence supports the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alex Preston (born 1979) is an English author and journalist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Preston_(author)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alexander Ross Winter (born 17 July 1965) is a British-born American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, he is best known for playing Bill S. Preston, Esq., in the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adven…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Winter
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the American League (A…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees
help
Claim 6: “Last month, author Mia Ballard was accused of using AI to write her horror novel, Shy Girl. It was withdrawn from publication in the UK and cancelled from scheduled publication in the US, after 'readers on platforms such as Goodreads and Reddit had questioned whether sections of the text bore hallmarks of AI-generated prose', according to the Guardian.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about the impact of the controversy on media trust.
help
Claim 7: “An editor’s note now precedes the review online, advising readers of the issue and providing a link to the Guardian review.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about an editor's note or editorial decision regarding the review.
verified
Claim 8: “The 'error' was brought to light by a reader, who alerted the New York Times to the similarities.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries for 1918 New Year Honours, 2019 in Australia, and Here We Go (TV series) are unrelated to the claim about a reader reporting similarities in reviews. No direct evidence supports the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in The …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_New_Year_Honours_(OBE)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following lists events that happened during 2019 in Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_in_Australia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Here We Go is a British sitcom created and written by Tom Basden for the BBC. It stars Jim Howick, Katherine Parkinson, Alison Steadman and Tori Allen-Martin alongside Basden. The pilot episode, origi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_We_Go_(TV_series)
verified
Claim 9: “An author and freelance journalist has admitted to using AI to help him write a book review for the New York Times.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries for Perplexity AI, The New York Times, and NYT Games do not mention AI use in book reviews or specific incidents involving authors admitting to AI assistance. No direct evidence supports the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Perplexity AI, Inc., or simply Perplexity, is an American privately held software company offering a web search engine that processes user queries and synthesizes responses. Perplexity products use la…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perplexity_AI
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York Times (NYT) is a newspaper based in Manhattan, New York City. The New York Times covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces and reviews. As one of the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York Times Games (NYT Games) is a collection of casual print and online games published by The New York Times, an American newspaper. Originating with the newspaper's crossword puzzle in 1942,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times_Games
schedule
Claim 10: “Hannah Bowman, a literary agent from Liza Dawson Associates, recently described mistrust as the book industry’s greatest peril: 'it’s essential for all parties in the publishing process to have transparency and clarity in conversations about how AI tools are being used by any party, especially in the creative process'.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 11: “The critic’s emotional and intellectual engagement with art – and their translation and communication of meaning – is intrinsic to their role as mediator. That role is deeply human.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about the ethical considerations of AI in journalism.
help
Claim 12: “The portion quoted online seems to speak more to the issue of unattributed work than his use of AI.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to confirm or refute the claim about the broader implications of the review controversy.
schedule
Claim 13: “In 2025, writers were 'horrified' to discover that their work had been pirated by Meta to train AI systems.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 14: “French professor and essayist Phillipe Lejeune used the term the 'autobiographical pact' to describe the relationship between the writer of a memoir and the reader.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 15: “In 2025, Tilly Norwood, the first fully AI-generated 'actress' ignited debate around whether so-called synthetic actors were a tool for creative expression, or a threat to human creators.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 16: “Australian literature academic Julieanne Lamond has said 'when we write reviews we have to do it 'naked' – as individual readers, with a public to judge our judgements'.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.