Major newsrooms including The New York Times are using AI tools like large language models in investigative journalism, with a record eight Pulitzer Prize winners this year disclosing AI use. While AI excels at organizing documents, summarizing, and identifying leads, human journalists remain essential for verification, source development, and editorial judgment, as demonstrated during a forum on AI in investigations.
Citogenesis is the creation of false information through circular reporting where inaccurate Wikipedia entries are copied by media outlets, then those media sources are cited back in Wikipedia as proof. The article documents well-known cases including fake deities, fabricated names, false biographical claims, and invented historical facts that persisted for years after being amplified through mainstream sources.