Just because a study has a long, jargon-filled title, that doesn’t mean it’s real.
Driving the news: A report prepared by Deloitte in May for the Newfoundland and Labrador government contains at least four citations of papers that don’t exist, per an investigation by the Independent. These imaginary studies are almost certainly the result of AI hallucinations.
- The report, which cost N.L.'s Department of Health and Community Services nearly $1.6 million, analyzed HR strategies for the province’s struggling healthcare system.
Zoom out: It’s the second time this year an N.L. government report has faced hallucination accusations. In August, the province published a 10-year education roadmap with at least 15 fake citations. However, the premier’s office said it’s “not prioritizing” a review of AI policies.
- This isn’t Deloitte’s first rodeo, either. In a prominent case last month, a report the firm prepared for the Australian government was riddled with apparent AI-generated errors — Deloitte refunded part of its fee and issued a corrected version.
Why it matters: AI has completely upended the consultancy industry, which rapidly adopted the technology in an attempt to appear ‘with it’ and chase the productivity dragon. This has a direct impact on Canada, where governments are heavily dependent on big consultancies.
Our take: We’ve reached the point where one should assume that a report put out by a consultant or government likely used gen-AI at some point in the creation process. And even with (apparently) rigorous vetting standards, that these reports should be more highly scrutinized.—QH