The Phantom Writer Who Fooled the Internet | The Walrus

"Nick's feature about the strange, sad case of "Victoria Goldiee"-a phantom writer whose spree of bylines, in publications ranging from the Guardian to Architectural Digest, have all the watermarks of chatbot prose-is the must-read piece of this closing year. With 2025 bringing flirty AI companions and lawsuits against AI giants and a looming AI bubble, his tale about the ease with which synthetic voices can now pass for human hits with the force of a horror story."

"Goldiee, who claimed she had written for The Walrus, never did. She did, however, pitch a number of editors here, including me. Nick's crack reporting revealed the bullet we dodged. But his forensic unravelling of a fraudster is also an act of profound creative counterparting, as authentic in its precisions as Goldiee's are phony. By his example, he holds up the standard her tainted pieces-and what our ChatGPT era threatens to foist on us-can never meet."

A phantom writer named "Victoria Goldiee" produced bylines in outlets from the Guardian to Architectural Digest that bore the hallmarks of chatbot prose. Goldiee's claim of prior work for The Walrus was false, though she pitched multiple editors and nearly placed pieces. Forensic reporting uncovered the deception and prevented further publication. The case demonstrates how easily synthetic voices can pass for human amid emerging AI companions, lawsuits against AI companies, and a looming AI bubble. Earlier examples include Sports Illustrated publishing fully AI-generated stories and author portraits that were later removed. The growing synthetic nature of journalism raises urgent verification, editorial, and ethical concerns.

Read at The Walrus