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An opinion article published by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age was retracted after it was discovered that the author, a university professor, used Microsoft Copilot to draft the piece without informing the publishers. The incident highlights conflicting norms regarding AI usage in professional writing and academic integrity. The masthead maintained that the use of AI to write stories for publication violates their editorial standards.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age removed an opinion article by Western Sydney University academic Cath Ellis after reporting found it had been prepared with Microsoft Copilot without the masthead being informed. Ellis said she used Copilot to structure her own notes, while the masthead said the article did not meet its editorial standards on AI use.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems capable of creating economic or cultural value, including through reproduction of human innovation or creativity (e.g., art, music, writing, coding, invention), destabilizing economic and social systems that rely on human effort. The ubiquity of AI-generated content may lead to reduced appreciation for human skills, disruption of creative and knowledge-based industries, and homogenization of cultural experiences.
Also classified as
The author relied on Microsoft Copilot to draft and structure her article, which violated the publisher's editorial standards and led to its retraction.
The incident highlights the tension surrounding AI-generated content displacing human writing in journalism and academia, raising questions about authorship and the value of human effort.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
The incident arose from a human decision to use a post-deployment AI system to draft a published article, leading to an unexpected retraction and public controversy.
An Australian academic used Microsoft Copilot to draft an opinion piece, leading to its retraction due to publisher policy violations. This incident highlights evolving norms around AI in professional writing but carries negligible national security implications.
The report describes the AI system being used to summarize, structure, and refine the author's own ideas. The spokesperson noted that the model 'summarised her extensive base of knowledge, providing prompts' and 'supported editing, structure and language refinement', which fits the definition of an Assistant that augments human capabilities under human oversight.
Limited Risk: The system used is Microsoft Copilot, a general-purpose AI chatbot and writing assistant. Under the EU AI Act, chatbots and systems that generate text are classified as Limited Risk (Level 3) because they require transparency obligations to ensure users are aware they are interacting with AI or that content is AI-generated.
The AI system (Microsoft Copilot) was used by the author to structure, edit, and refine her thoughts into a coherent opinion article, acting directly as a writing assistant.
The report provides clear, firsthand accounts from the author, the university, and the publishers regarding how the AI was used, why the article was retracted, and the institutional policies involved. There is little ambiguity about the facts of the event.
The incident could be viewed purely as an academic integrity or publishing ethics issue rather than an AI safety risk, but the central role of the LLM in generating the text makes it a clear case of AI-related socio-technical friction.
Technology
Distinct AI Writing Patterns
Copilot generated recognizable patterns like rule-of-threes and jargon.
AI Detection Unreliability
AI detection programs are useful but not foolproof for editors.
Data Inputs
Large Volume of Input Text
Uploading 40,000 words of research to LLM led to unexpected phrasing.
Human Factors
Overreliance on AI for Writing
Academic used Copilot to structure and write instead of drafting from scratch.
Assumption of Acceptable Use
Author assumed using AI as a team member was appropriate for public pieces.
Process and Methods
Undisclosed AI Use in Submission
Author did not inform the editors that AI was used to compile the article.
Differing Institutional AI Norms
Discrepancy between university encouragement and media guidelines on AI.
Lack of Pre-publication Check
Masthead lacked active checks to detect AI-generated text before publishing.
Management
Uncommunicated AI Guidelines
Masthead guidelines against AI writing were never conveyed to the author.
Permissive Institutional Policies
WSU management actively encourages and praises AI-assisted writing.
Regulatory Environment
Lack of Uniform AI Standards
Absence of nationwide standards for AI use in education and publishing.
AI system involved
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
