Editorial illustration for NYT fires freelancer after AI tool reproduced sentences from Kent's review
NYT Fires Freelancer for AI Tool's Plagiarized Article
NYT fires freelancer after AI tool reproduced sentences from Kent's review
When a freelance writer submitted a piece to the Times, the byline seemed routine—until a vigilant reader noticed that large swaths of the article mirrored a recent Guardian review by Kent. The similarity wasn’t a coincidence; an AI‑driven drafting tool had apparently pulled text straight from the earlier piece. The Times’ editorial team acted quickly, terminating the contract and flagging the incident as a breach of its content standards.
What followed was a candid admission from the freelancer, who described the episode as a “serious mistake” and expressed “hugely embarrassed” feelings about the lapse. The episode raises immediate questions about the reliability of generative tools in professional journalism and the safeguards newsrooms must employ. It also underscores the thin line between assistance and plagiarism when AI can scrape and re‑use existing prose.
As the conversation unfolds, the freelancer’s own words provide a stark glimpse into the fallout.
A reader spotted the overlap, and the Times let him go. Preston told the Guardian he was "hugely embarrassed" and had "made a serious mistake." Some of his sentences were nearly identical to Kent's, which points to the AI tool scraping directly from the Guardian piece. Preston probably assumed he was using a writing assistant, not something that searches the web and copies existing work.
He likely just didn't know what his tool was doing. Something similar happened at Ars Technica recently: an editor ran a story with quotes that were entirely made up, attributed to a developer's blog.
Was this a simple oversight or a symptom of deeper issues in freelance workflows? The New York Times' decision to end its relationship with Alex Preston came after a reader flagged striking similarities between his review of Jean‑Baptiste Andrea’s *Watching Over Her* and Christobel Kent’s earlier Guardian piece. Preston admits he was “hugely embarrassed” and calls it a “serious mistake.” The AI tool he employed apparently scraped text directly from Kent’s review, producing sentences that were nearly identical.
This incident highlights how readily generated content can inherit existing prose when sources are not transparent. It also raises questions about the vetting processes freelancers and editors use when incorporating AI assistance. The Times acted quickly, cutting ties once the duplication was confirmed.
Whether other writers are encountering comparable problems remains unclear, as does the extent to which AI providers flag such reuse. For now, the episode serves as a cautionary reminder that reliance on automated tools does not eliminate the responsibility to ensure originality.
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Common Questions Answered
How did the New York Times discover the plagiarism in Alex Preston's article?
A vigilant reader spotted significant text overlaps between Preston's article and Christobel Kent's earlier Guardian review. The Times' editorial team investigated and confirmed the similarities, which appeared to be directly copied by an AI drafting tool.
What was Alex Preston's response to being fired by the New York Times?
Preston told the Guardian he was 'hugely embarrassed' and acknowledged making a 'serious mistake' with the AI writing tool. He suggested he likely did not understand the full capabilities of the AI tool he was using, which had apparently scraped text directly from Kent's original review.
What specific actions did the New York Times take after discovering the AI-assisted plagiarism?
The New York Times immediately terminated the freelance contract with Alex Preston after confirming the text similarities. The editorial team flagged the incident as a clear breach of their content standards and ethical writing practices.