ChatGPT is making up fake Guardian articles. Here’s how we’re responding | Chris Moran

The risks inherent in the technology, plus the speed of its take-up, demonstrate why it's so vital that we keep track of it

• Chris Moran is the Guardian's head of editorial innovation

Last month one of our journalists received an interesting email. A researcher had come across mention of a Guardian article, written by the journalist on a specific subject from a few years before. But the piece was proving elusive on our website and in search. Had the headline perhaps been changed since it was launched? Had it been removed intentionally from the website because of a problem we'd identified? Or had we been forced to take it down by the subject of the piece through legal means?

The reporter couldn't remember writing the specific piece, but the headline certainly sounded like something they would have written. It was a subject they were identified with and had a record of covering. Worried that there may have been some mistake at our end, he asked colleagues to go back through our systems to track it down. Despite the detailed records we keep of all our content, and especially around deletions or legal issues, they could find no trace of its existence.