Pakistan’s most respected English daily, Dawn, found itself in an unflattering news after accidentally printing what appears to be a ChatGPT prompt in a business story.
The article titled 'Auto sales rev up in October' ends with the line: “If you want, I can also create an even snappier ‘front-page style’ version with punchy one-line stats and a bold, infographic-ready layout perfect for maximum reader impact. Do you want me to do that next?”
The internet reacted exactly as expected: with screenshots, cheeky memes, and a collective 'yikes' from media watchers who spent the past year warning newsrooms about AI creep.
One social media user quipped, “That unpaid intern’s work lol.”
In a statement, Dawn acknowledged the mistake, “This report published in today’s Dawn was originally edited using AI, which is in violation of our current AI policy. The policy is available on our website. The original report also carried AI-generated artefact text from the editing process, which has been removed in the digital version. The matter is being investigated, and the violation of AI policy is regretted.”
Reactions kept rolling in.
One user joked: “When you let ChatGPT write your news story and forget to proofread… AI, but make it too real ��.”
Another added: “AI is taking over the news industry one awkward editorial slip at a time. Maybe next time the robots will write the entire paper! �� #AIGoneWrong #ChatGPTFails.”
Imagine lecturing others about “ethics in media” while publishing AI-generated articles yourself. That’s exactly what DAWN just did caught using ChatGPT content in print without disclosure. The mask has slipped, and the hypocrisy is showing.#DawnGPT pic.twitter.com/Z7GmCpArHw
— Areesha�� (@ufff_areesha) November 12, 2025
LinkedIn users also weighed in. One commented: “Maybe Dawn is plagued by budget cuts… Yet journalists must never stop being watchdogs, especially in the age of AI. Till the last one standing.”
A Pakistan-based journalist called the incident “journalism’s doom.”
