Dear friends, we must buy truth even if the price is ever so dear. Every parcel of truth is precious as the filings of gold. We must either live it, or die for it.”
–Thomas Brooks
“AI doesn’t understand facts, truth, or privacy. It is a reckless bull in a china shop, and we should demand better.”
–Gary Marcus
A friend recently appealed his property tax appraisal, using AI to help him build the case that the taxing authorities had overvalued his house when compared to the value assigned to comparable houses in the neighborhood by willing sellers and buyers. Only after he had submitted his appeal did he do a little extra research and thereby learn that his AI assistant had invented several transactions out of whole cloth. This is probably no surprise to you, dear reader. AI hallucinations have sullied the reputation of numerous reputable law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms, tech firms, judges, and others.
Truth is so important in our lives and AI imperils truth so greatly that author, filmmaker, and “media explorer” Steven Rosenbaum wrote a book named The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality (2026). This book has received a fair amount of attention because, as you may have heard, Rosenbaum was infamously hoist on his own petard when he used AI to assist in writing his book which, predictably, contains falsities hallucinated by that AI in the form of fake or misattributed quotations.
For example, as disclosed by New York Times reporter Benjamin Mullin:
One of the quotes is attributed to Kara Swisher, a prominent technology journalist, in a chapter about A.I. lies. “The most sophisticated A.I. language model is like a mirror,” the books says Ms. Swisher wrote. “It reflects our own morality back at us, polished and articulate, but ultimately empty behind the surface. It’s not bound by Asimov’s laws or any ethical framework—it’s bound by the patterns in its training data and the objectives set by its creators.”
When asked about that quote, Ms. Swisher said in a text message that she “never said that,” adding that it seems the quote was made up by A.I. and not Mr. Rosenbaum.
“I also sound like I have a stick up my butt,” according to ChatGPT, Ms. Swisher said.
Although Rosenbaum had disclosed in the book’s acknowledgment that he used ChatGPT and Claude in researching, writing, and editing the book, this is still not a good look. Rosenbaum has apologized.
It is unclear whether the disclosure that the book contains AI hallucinations will harm its sales or, to the contrary, gain it enough additional attention to spur sales above otherwise expected levels. In either event, we suspect that Rosenbaum regrets that he didn’t catch the errors, even though in interviews he seems spectacularly defensive about his use of AI. Indeed, he told an interviewer that he would rather give up writing than give up using AI to help him write.
The leading AI-detection software concluded that the book is 53% AI-generated with an additional 9% likely being AI-assisted. We find this entirely plausible and believe that as you read along you will suspect, as we did, that AI played a larger and larger role in drafting the text as the end of the book approaches.
Is there anything to recommend this book besides an amazing number of blurbs? Yes.
First, this is an extraordinarily important topic. As author and blurber Michael Wolff writes: “Truth is under attack. From the White House to corporate boardrooms, lying has become a profit center….The Future of Truth offers a possible way out.”
Second, although many other AI books have discussed the issues that Rosenbaum and ChatGPT address, this a “comprehensive” treatment says media critic and blurber Bob Garfield. It addresses hallucinations, deep fakes, misinformation, AI slop, “truth circles,” “truth sandwiches,” and much more.
Third, the book is deeply researched. Whether by himself or (more likely) with a lot of help from AI, Rosenbaum has produced a book with a 22.5-page list of up-to-date sources, including several academic works.
Check out The Future of Truth.
Sources:
Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1866).
Urs Gasser & Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Guardrails: Guiding Human Decisions in the Age of AI (2024).
Kate Knibbs, “We Asked the Future of Truth Author to Explain How He Used AI. It Didn’t Go Well,” WIRED, May 29, 2026, at https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-truth-ai-interview/.
Gary Marcus, “The Urgent Risks of Runaway AI – and What to Do about Them,” TED Talk (2022), at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL5OFXeXenA.
Will McCurdy, “KPMG Allegedly Published AI Report Filled with Hallucinations,” PCMag, June 15, 2026, at https://www.pcmag.com/news/kpmg-allegedly-published-ai-report-filled-with-hallucinations.
Benjamin Mullin, “Book on the Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I.,” New York Times, May 19, 2026, at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/business/media/future-of-truth-ai-quotes.html.
Santul Nerkar, “A.I. ‘Hallucinations’ Created Errors in Court Filing, Top Law Firm Says,” New York Times, Apr. 21, 2026, at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/nyregion/sullivan-cromwell-ai-hallucination.html.
Gadjo Sevilla, “AI Hallucinations Spark a Trust Crisis for Consulting Firms,” EMARKETER, June 15, 2026, at https://www.emarketer.com/content/ai-hallucinations-spark-trust-crisis-consulting-firms.
Clive Thompson, “Coding after Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It,” New York Times, Mar. 12, 2026, at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/magazine/ai-coding-programming-jobs-claude-chatgpt.html.
Neil Vigdor, “Lawyers Barred for A.I.-Generated Fake Cases,” New York Times, June 9, 2026, at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/us/ai-lawyers-sanctioned-mississippi.html.