TLDR: A comprehensive education reform report for Newfoundland and Labrador, titled ‘Education Accord NL,’ is facing significant criticism after it was found to contain at least 15 fabricated academic citations. The 418-page document, which advocates for ethical AI use in schools, is ironically suspected by experts of having used generative artificial intelligence to create these non-existent sources, undermining its credibility.
A major education reform document, the ‘Education Accord NL’ final report, intended as a 10-year roadmap for modernizing the education system in Newfoundland and Labrador, has come under intense scrutiny for including numerous fabricated citations. The 418-page report, which took 18 months to complete and was unveiled on August 28 by co-chairs Anne Burke and Karen Goodnough, both professors at Memorial’s Faculty of Education, contains at least 15 references to non-existent journal articles and documents.
Among the discovered fabrications is a citation for a 2008 National Film Board movie titled ‘Schoolyard Games,’ which a spokesperson for the board confirmed does not exist. Further investigation revealed that this specific fake citation appears to have been directly copied from a University of Victoria style guide, a document that explicitly uses fictional examples to teach proper formatting and includes a warning that ‘Many citations in this guide are fictitious.’
Experts are pointing to generative artificial intelligence (AI) as the likely culprit behind these fabricated sources. Aaron Tucker, an assistant professor at Memorial University specializing in AI history, stated that he could not locate numerous sources cited in the report despite extensive searches in academic databases and Google. Tucker noted that ‘fabricating sources is a telltale sign of artificial intelligence,’ and questioned, ‘The fabrication of sources at least begs the question: did this come from generative AI?’ This incident highlights a growing issue where AI language models, prioritizing plausible outputs over factual accuracy, can generate believable but entirely fictional academic citations that may bypass human review.
The situation is particularly ironic given that the ‘Education Accord NL’ report itself includes 110 calls to action, one of which recommends that the Newfoundland and Labrador government ‘provide learners and educators with essential AI knowledge, including ethics, data privacy, and responsible technology use.’ The presence of potentially AI-generated fake sources in a document advocating for AI ethics significantly undermines its authority and trustworthiness.
Josh Lepawsky, former president of the Memorial University Faculty Association, had previously resigned from the report’s advisory board in January, citing a ‘deeply flawed process’ that led to ‘top-down’ recommendations. He emphasized the severity of the issue, stating, ‘Errors happen. Made-up citations are a totally different thing where you essentially demolish the trustworthiness of the material.’
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In response to the revelations, Newfoundland and Labrador Education Minister Bernard Davis initially declined an interview. However, he later admitted he did not know how the ‘errors,’ as he termed the fake citations, made their way into the report, but he dismissed the idea that they were AI-generated as ‘preposterous.’ The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development issued a statement acknowledging ‘a small number of potential errors in citations’ and indicated that the online version of the report would be updated to address these issues. Co-chair Karen Goodnough also declined an interview, stating that they were ‘investigating and checking references.’
