Pundit ClaimsAI claims by Gary Marcus and Ed Zitron, with the evidence

Gary Marcus Observation First said

“What’s even more disturbing is that Bing makes it look like the false narrative that it generates is referenced.”

The threat of automated misinformation is only getting worse, paragraph 4. The full statement is at the source.

Our reading, the sentence that was checked:

In Oakley's reported example, Bing makes the false narrative it generates look as if it is referenced.

Assessment: Unresolved Evidence as of

Where and when Gary Marcus wrote it

Marcus on AI, The threat of automated misinformation is only getting worse, paragraph 4.

Said
Source observed
live page, full text, public
Evidence as of
the cutoff for this assessment
Assessment recorded
assessment marcus-the-threat-of-automated-misinformation-6477c1-a1

We recorded 2 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.

The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-29. The source may have been edited after 2023-02-28. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.

What the claim commits to

Kind
Observation
Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
None stated. This site does not add one.
Deadline state when assessed
No horizon
Deadline state on 2026-10-29
No horizon (the release’s reference date)

Conditions

  • the false narrative in Oakley's reported example, produced after getting around the guardrails (scope, stated by the speaker)

From the speaker

  • Bing makes it look like
  • the false narrative that it generates
  • is referenced

Our interpretation

  • The subject is Oakley's reported example, as established by the surrounding paragraphs.
  • The plain reading of 'referenced' is visible citations, source links, or named supporting sources that appear to substantiate the false narrative. The references need not themselves be invented.
  • The example occurred by February 28, 2023, but its exact test date is not supplied. The start of the target interval is therefore left unspecified.

Counts as supported if: The authenticated output from Oakley's example contains a demonstrably false narrative presented with apparent supporting references.

Counts as contradicted if: The authenticated complete output lacks apparent supporting references, or the purportedly false narrative is shown to be accurate.

Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.

Current assessment

Was it true for the period described?

Outcome: Unresolved

The record was checked, and the evidence available by the cutoff does not settle it.

Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.

Evidence as of
Deadline state when assessed
No horizon
Assessment recorded
Policy version
2026-10-28.7

Rationale

Independent firsthand reporting documents a similar citation failure in early Bing. However, the claim identifies Oakley's example, and its underlying record was not located. General evidence that Bing could do this cannot establish that this particular response did.

Limitations

  • A broader reading about Bing's general capability would receive stronger support from the separate TechCrunch demonstration.
  • The available text does not permit checking Oakley's narrative or references.

Evidence (1 item)

  • Context only: TechCrunch,

    a COVID conspiracy

    Why it matters here: TechCrunch's own testing found Bing repeating a false vaccine narrative and citing a report that had identified the text as disinformation. This demonstrates a similar failure, but it is a different interaction from Oakley's.

    Publisher
    TechCrunch
    Kind of source
    News report
    Describes events of
    Public from

What would settle it

Oakley's authenticated complete response, including its references, together with factual checks of the narrative and cited material.

Where it was said (1)

Said once in the sources this register covers.

  • : Marcus on AI, The threat of automated misinformation is only getting worse

    What’s even more disturbing is that Bing makes it look like the false narrative that it generates is referenced.

    Published
    2023-02-28
    Source observed
    , live page
    Access
    full text, public

History

Assessment versions

Recorded events

  1. Assessment publishedBy this site

    First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.

    About assessment marcus-the-threat-of-automated-misinformation-6477c1-a1.