N.L.'s 10-year education action plan cites sources that don't exist (www.cbc.ca)

Newfoundland and Labrador’s ambitious 10-year Education Accord report, aimed at modernizing the province’s public education system, has come under scrutiny for citing at least 15 non-existent sources. Several academics from Memorial University suggest these fabricated references may have been produced by generative AI tools, which can generate plausible but false information when prompted. Among the questionable citations is a nonexistent 2008 National Film Board film, Schoolyard Games, which matches a known fictitious example from a University of Victoria style guide. The inclusion of such false references has raised concerns about the report’s credibility and the rigor of its review process. This controversy is significant for the AI and academic communities as it highlights the risks of relying on large language models (LLMs) for research and policy drafting without proper verification. Experts warn that fabricated citations undermine trust in scholarly work and stress the need for ethical AI use, especially in influential documents shaping public policy. The report itself calls for improved AI literacy, promoting ethics, data privacy, and responsible technology use among learners and educators. As the province investigates and works to correct these citation errors, the episode serves as a cautionary tale about the challenges of integrating AI tools in academic and governmental contexts, emphasizing the need for human oversight to maintain integrity.