Lost in Lualand

Posted by David Gerard

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/02/10/uk-tabloid-newspapers-quote-fake-experts-created-with-ai/

https://pivot-to-ai.com/?p=7114

The Press Gazette, the trade journal for UK newspapers, published a blinder today: “Faces of fakery: More fake and AI generated experts con their way into media”. [Press Gazette]

This is by Rob Waugh and Dominic Ponsford. Rob’s been on the fake AI expert beat for a while. I recommend Rob’s PR Hall of Shame, which names 50 media-quoted “experts” who don’t… exist. [Press Gazette]

The PR industry was shocked, shocked to see this! And launched an investigation. So that’s nice. [Press Gazette]

The incentive to print this stuff is obvious — journalists are treated like trash. You had dreams once, but now you work at a declining content mill which runs on clicks, and anything that saves you five minutes makes your job that little bit less precarious for a moment. You see an email of PR trash, you top and tail it in house style, bang! Job done. You quoted an expert, see, you can point at your journalism.

In today’s round, the Press Gazette uncovered yet more nonexistent AI-generated experts — and this was just in the papers that were the worst culprits in the previous round: the Sun, the Daily Express, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star.

These are gutter trash tabloids nobody has any expectations of, except the Daily Star adds some jokes and the Mail and the Express add some hatemongering. I’m sort of surprised the Press Gazette bothered.

The Press Gazette has put up a spreadsheet listing the articles, the names of the fake experts, and details of the PR company faking each expert. [Google Docs]

The research exposed a prolific travel writer whose ‘employer’ has admitted she does not exist and makes use of AI, and a ‘sex expert’ who has taken the face of a porn star.

Some of the articles have been removed. Even the Sun removed five of the eight articles the Press Gazette flagged.

Reach plc is a particular offender. They publish the Mirror, the Star, and the Express. They claim they’re “proactively tackling the issue of fake experts, including creating a directory of trusted PR companies.” The articles quoting the fake experts are, of course. still up.

This is top work from the Press Gazette. I’d love to see them go through some alleged experts in papers that pretend to have more of a reputation. ’Cos you bet there are rich pickings there too.

• Video — Podcast

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/02/10/uk-tabloid-newspapers-quote-fake-experts-created-with-ai/

https://pivot-to-ai.com/?p=7114