TLDR: Amazon has removed several AI-generated biographies of prominent Scottish National Party (SNP) politicians, including First Minister John Swinney, Nicola Sturgeon, and Humza Yousaf, from its platform. The books contained numerous factual inaccuracies and fabricated details, raising significant concerns about the potential for AI-driven misinformation to influence the upcoming 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.
Amazon has taken decisive action to remove a series of AI-generated fake political biographies from its online marketplace, following reports of widespread factual inaccuracies and fabricated content. The books primarily targeted senior figures within the Scottish National Party (SNP), including current First Minister John Swinney, and former First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.
The removals come amidst escalating concerns that artificial intelligence could be weaponized to spread disinformation and undermine the integrity of democratic processes, particularly with the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections on the horizon. Reports by The Times and subsequent inquiries by the BBC highlighted the egregious errors present in these publications.
One such book, ‘John Swinney: Scotland’s Education Architect’ by an author listed as ‘Brendy Beauty,’ falsely claimed that First Minister John Swinney was born in Ohio, USA, to a Polish mother named ‘Kazimiera,’ and that he had worked as a teacher in Tayside. In reality, Swinney is from Edinburgh, his mother’s name is Agnes, and he has never been a teacher, though he previously held the education portfolio. Similarly, biographies of Humza Yousaf contained untruths, such as claims of growing up in poverty and his father being named ‘Mohammed,’ despite Yousaf attending private school and his father’s name being Muzaffar. Another book on Nicola Sturgeon made bizarre claims about her family and her mother being a ‘nearby press flesher.’ Subsequent inquiries by the BBC led to the delisting of four additional titles, some credited to ‘renowned author’ Brian B Porter, which were reportedly riddled with grammatical errors and hallucinated family histories.
These AI-generated books, ranging from 36 to 85 pages in length, were found to contain a multitude of bizarre and untrue claims, highlighting the flaws in generative AI tools that scrape internet data to auto-generate content without proper verification. An SNP spokesperson confirmed that none of the removed titles were official biographies and that many of the claims made within them were ‘simply untrue.’
In response to the revelations, Amazon issued a statement affirming its commitment to content guidelines. ‘We have content guidelines governing which books can be listed for sale, and we have proactive and reactive methods that help us detect content that violates our guidelines, whether AI-generated or not,’ Amazon stated. ‘We invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed and remove books that do not adhere to those guidelines.’
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Experts are sounding the alarm about the potential impact of such AI-generated content. Sam Stockwell, a research associate for the Centre for Emerging Technology and Security at The Alan Turing Institute in London, warned that ‘AI-generated biographies could have a more persuasive effect’ than other forms of AI-created content. He noted that text often lacks the obvious cues present in videos or images that help users determine authenticity, making it harder for readers to discern whether they are consuming AI-generated material. Stockwell emphasized the risk of ‘threat actors’ undermining political candidates’ reputations with fabricated claims, especially given the absence of clear labels indicating AI generation.
