Summer can be the perfect time to pick up a new book, a work of creativity that introduces the reader to exotic locations, compelling characters and intricate plots.
But only if they’re real.
The news that the Sun-Times ran an artificial intelligence-generated list of “2025 Summer Reads” that was rife with made-up titles ascribed to established authors was more than disappointing.
This is a journalistic betrayal — not just for the inaccuracies, the lack of fact-checking and the sheer waste of ink — but because the Sun-Times has a responsibility to its readers to not shove dreck into their eyeballs.
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As the board of the Chicago-North Romance Writers, we can testify that without exception, human creativity trumps machine-generated content. Humans are the best source of storytelling, and AI will never achieve that, no matter how many of our books it steals.
We challenge the Sun-Times to commit to human-generated content, now and in the future. The journalists at the Sun-Times deserve to have their voices heard, as well as the actual, real authors of summer reads.
And pick up a romance novel while you’re at it.
Laura Ridgefield, president; Mary Morris, vice president; J Von Tobel, treasurer; Victoria Hamel, secretary, Chicago-North Romance Writers
Sun-Times’ slipups
I’ve always appreciated the effort and in-depth reporting you folks at the Sun-Times have presented to this city. It was a nice contrast to what the Tribune was doing.
But you nearly lost me when you removed the editorial board. Yet I stuck with you for Neil Steinberg and a few other writers who grind it out and clearly have a passion for truth.
Then came the repeated appeals for donations to keep “journalistic integrity,” as if you were a charity.
But now you publish a list of AI-generated novels that are must-reads this summer? Novels that aren’t real? You’ve made it viral on the internet making things up. Fact-checking? Reliability? It’s time to close up shop.
Mark Weiher, Chicago
Competition shouldn’t gloat
The AI-generated insert found in a recent Sun-Times was obviously not great. But the Tribune shouldn’t throw stones. If AI slop replaced the output of their editorial board, the product would be much improved.
Jack Murphy, South Shore