EY Canada Retracts $200 Billion Loyalty Study After GPTZero Finds Fake Footnotes
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · May 15
EY Canada Retracts $200 Billion Loyalty Study After GPTZero Finds Fake Footnotes
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · May 15
EY Canada pulled its “Points of Attack” report after GPTZero found apparent AI hallucinations, fabricated citations and a referenced McKinsey report that does not exist.
More than half a dozen footnotes led to missing or irrelevant web pages, while the report used inconsistent figures — including a $200 billion loyalty market estimate and the same value for unclaimed points.
EY said it removed the study from its website and is reviewing how it was published, adding the paper was not tied to any client work.
The episode adds to a wider pattern of AI errors in professional services, after Deloitte revised a Canadian government report last year and Sullivan & Cromwell apologized to a New York court last month.
The setback comes as EY pushes deeper into AI: it said in October AI-related revenue rose 30% and 15,000 staff worked on client projects involving the technology.
After faked data and past scandals, can 'Big Four' firms be trusted to self-regulate their use of AI?
When AI confidently invents 'facts,' how can we prevent the permanent corruption of our online knowledge?