Tamil Nadu minister alleges AI-generated book scam in public libraries
School Education Minister Rajmohan has filed a complaint with anti-corruption police over books allegedly produced using artificial intelligence under the previous DMK government.
Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Rajmohan said on Saturday that his department has lodged a complaint with the anti-corruption police regarding the purchase of books for public libraries. According to The Indian Express, the minister alleged that the previous DMK administration procured books that were artificially generated and featured fabricated author names.
The minister claimed the irregularities began at Coimbatore’s Periyar Arivulagam and have extended to other locations, including the Kalaignar Library in Madurai and libraries in Tiruchi, Salem, Cuddalore, and Tirunelveli. Rajmohan described the situation as "India’s first AI scam," alleging that AI was used to combine material from different authors into new volumes under invented identities.
The controversy follows observations by novelist Perumal Murugan regarding factual errors and questionable authorship in library collections. Economist Jean Drèze also denied authoring an English-language book attributed to him that was reportedly found in the libraries, calling the work fake.
The DMK has rejected the accusations, with leader I Paranthamen calling them a "fake narrative" intended to mask administrative failures. The DMK has demanded that the government release official records, including bank transactions and purchase orders, to clarify the matter.
Rajmohan announced that a special committee will be formed to examine library collections across the state. He also instructed libraries to preserve books supplied by Agalvilakku Publishing House as evidence for the investigation.