Artificial Intelligence1 min read

New Indian mega library rocked by scandal over 'AI-generated books'

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The controversy emerged at Coimbatore's newly inaugurated 3-billion-rupee Periyar Arivulagam library after novelist Perumal Murugan flagged nearly 1,800 suspicious titles issued by Agal Vilakku Pathippagam. The flagged works featured dubious ISBNs, exorbitant pricing, and glaring factual inaccuracies, including the misidentification of the classical poetic work Naladiyar as an individual author. Officials have responded by removing hundreds of compromised volumes from multiple institutions, including 523 books pulled from Chennai's Connemara Public Library. The Madras High Court and state auditors are now examining transactions network-wide while account assets tied to an accused supplier r…

Key points

  • State authorities are auditing the entire public library network to uncover how flawed bo…: State authorities are auditing the entire public library network to uncover how flawed books bypassed official vetting.
  • A disputed book discovered in a Madurai library falsely attributed its authorship to econ…: A disputed book discovered in a Madurai library falsely attributed its authorship to economist Jean Drèze.
  • More than 160 writers, scholars, and publishers have demanded the immediate public releas…: More than 160 writers, scholars, and publishers have demanded the immediate public release of state procurement records.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

- Published

An Indian court has ordered an investigation into allegations that a public library in the southern state of Tamil Nadu bought hundreds of books suspected of being generated using AI.

The controversy began after Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan raised concerns about books containing false information and questionable authorship at a newly opened library in Coimbatore city.

The Madras High Court has ordered the state's anti-corruption agency to investigate the purchases and freeze bank accounts linked to a publisher accused of supplying the books.

The state government has blamed the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party-led administration for buying the books. The DMK denies allegations.

Tamil Nadu's School Education Minister A Rajmohan has described the allegations as potentially "India's first AI scam" and said the investigation would cover purchases at other public libraries across the state.

The case has raised wider questions about the growing use of AI in publishing, where tools can generate entire books quickly and cheaply, but also produce false information and invented references.

It has also highlighted the challenges facing libraries and publishers in checking…

Artificial Intelligence