She had just discovered that , one of the world’s top peer-reviewed journals, had published an article under her name.
The article was on her area of expertise, about which she has written numerous pieces, and a book.
But the new article had not been written by Caroline.
It had been pitched to editors by someone else. Not only did it contain plagiarised quotes from other articles, it was also produced using AI, detection software suggested.
There are widespread concerns about the potential for artificial intelligence to make a swathe of jobs redundant. But the technology also makes it much easier and cheaper for criminals to commit fraud, and on a bigger scale – with particular concern about impersonation scams.
“I was absolutely horrified,” Caroline tells The i Paper. “I had no control about what was happening and no way to stop it.”
Why water firms could be due customers £240m by 2030
Poor supplier performance means households are set to see £240m taken off their water bills by 2030, regulator Ofwat has announced.
Water firms not hitting targets
The water watchdog said it was looking at imposing penalties on a number of firms across the sector for not meeting environmental and customer service targets in the 2025-26 financial year.
- A total of £240m could be returned through customers’ bills by 2029-30, with £107m to be returned in 2027-28.
Why the reduction is unlikely to impact your wallet
However, cuts to bills will likely be offset for many customers by recent plans announced by Ofwat to permit water firms to raise annual tariffs by an extra £3.4bn.
This is in addition to the 36 per cent rise agreed over the five years to 2030.
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Who could see the biggest reductions?
Customers of Yorkshire Water could see £27 taken off their bills for under-performance on average, with a £7 reduction for those at Thames Water, according to Ofwat.
Meanwhile, some firms will see outperformance payments, such as Severn Trent and Northumbrian Water.
Ofwat stressed that changes to bills are “affected by a range of factors and the effect will vary by company and customer type”. It will make its on the payments by 15 December, taking effect on next year.
Burnham’s water plans
- Last month, plans were revealed for laws to pave the way for public ownership of water companies.
- It has sparked conversation about a possible temporary nationalisation of debt-ridden Thames Water.
- Andy Burnham has previously warned customers “cannot be treated as a blank cheque” after Ofwat announced plans in August to allow additional bill increases.
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Finally, sewage-dumping water bosses to lose their bonuses
The move marks a new win for The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign, which has been calling for tougher measures to restrict bonuses at underperforming water firms.
Russell Brand ‘concerned’ as trial prosecution begins
Russell Brand said he is feeling “concerned” as prosecutors begin presenting their case against him in his trial on rape and sexual assault charges.
What is Brand accused of?
The 51-year-old entertainer faces three allegations of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one allegation of indecent assault, after being accused by six women.
Previous court hearings have been told how Brand, who denies all charges, is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room at a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.
He also allegedly grabbed a TV worker’s breasts and forced her into a sex act in a toilet and is said to have kissed and groped a radio station worker.
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More detail
- The accusations against Brand date from 1999 to 2009.
- A jury was selected at Southwark Crown Court on Monday and Tuesday, before prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC opened the prosecution’s case on Wednesday.
- Arriving at court, Brand said: “Today I feel blessed. I feel, of course, concerned but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved.”
- Brand’s wife, Laura Gallacher, has supported him at court this week as the case continues.
What has been said in court
The court heard on Wednesday that Brand is “ruthless, calculated and manipulative”, a “sexual predator” according to the prosecution, who raped and groped women to satisfy his “huge sexual appetite”.
He was “obsessed” with sex and treated women as a “means to an end,” the court was told. Brand was described as “child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met”.
“Regardless of who they were and what they said or did, the defendant was not deterred… He could be nice when he wanted to be – funny, undoubtedly; charming, likeable even… But then demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite… Uppermost in his mind was his insatiable desire to get what he wanted”
prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC
A man’s body has been recovered, with two others still unaccounted for, after a fishing vessel went missing off the Outer Hebrides.
Everything we know so far
HM Coastguard have said they were made aware of the missing ship, which was sailing off Port Ness on the Isle of Lewis, at around 9.20pm on Tuesday.
- Police Scotland were notified at about 11.35pm. The force said three men were aboard.
- The body of one man has been recovered. The man’s family have been made aware and are being supported by officers.
Search under way
A Coastguard aeroplane, two helicopters, six rescue teams, two RNLI lifeboats, a local vessel and Police Scotland are involved in the search, which is being carried out amid a yellow weather warning for high winds in the region.
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Pope Leo diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with cancer following a “successful” operation to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican has announced.
A common type of lung cancer
Doctors confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, a common type of lung cancer, after pre-planned surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora said cancer had been suspected by pre-operative tests.
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What else do we know?
- The surgery lasted around 90 minutes and had no complications.
- Pope Leo had a “peaceful night” in hospital, where he is expected to remain for about a week.
- The 71-year-old pontiff cancelled all public events until 20 October to give him time to recover.
- It is understood that King Charles is writing privately to the Pope to pass on his well-wishes.
Hope for quick recovery
- The Vatican did not give more details of the operation, but Margaritora is an expert in robotic surgical techniques and Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (Vats).
- Using small incisions by endoscopic instruments equipped with a high-definition camera, Vats reduces surgical trauma and can result in faster recovery.
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Reactions from religious leaders and supporters
Archbishop Richard Moth, leader of the Catholics in England and Wales, said: “I have sent a message on behalf of all in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, assuring him [the Pope] of our prayers.”
- Large crowds gathered outside the hospital to wait for the Pope before his surgery. One well-wisher, Carla, told the BBC she was “taken aback” by the news, adding: “It turns out he’s vulnerable too.”
New dinosaur species discovered from ‘overlooked’ fossil
A new species of dinosaur has been identified from an “overlooked” fossil which was found on the Isle of Wight more than 100 years ago, researchers have said.
The history of the fossil
The fossil, which was a piece of the back of a skull, was originally found at the foot of a cliff on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight by amateur palaeontologist Reginald Walter Tooley. It was procured by the Natural History Museum in 1924.
Dr Cassius Morrison of University College London said it was a “real mystery” why the fossil had been overlooked.
A megaraptoran
The new dinosaur, named Invictibellatrix amberina (with the former meaning “unconquered female warrior”), has and is about the size of a large tiger.
It is part of a group of agile, two-legged carnivores called . These were closely related to tyrannosaurus but had more slender heads and used their claws to attack prey rather than their jaws.
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A mysterious species
- Megaraptors are seen as the most mysterious of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, with few fossils found.
- Until this discovery, no megaraptorans had been found in Europe.
- Researchers suggest invictibellatrix would have been three to four meters long and just over a metre and a half tall.
- They also speculate it would likely have had feathers and 10-20cm long claws.
- Its diet is thought to have consisted of small dinosaurs, lizards and mammals.
Rules, London’s oldest restaurant, given to National Trust
The home of Rules, London’s oldest restaurant which has been there since 1798, has been donated to the National Trust.
The charity said the donation of the £11m site by J-P Mayhew, its owner of 40 years, would secure the future of a building where “kings dined and writers and politicians plotted”.
The freehold acquisition included visitor books, menus, caricatures, photographs, stained glass and signs. Annual rent from the restaurant business will also go into conservation work.
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Famous diners
Rules is no stranger to celebrity, having welcomed figures from and – who would rendezvous with his mistresses there – to and over the past two centuries.
The restaurant, located at 34-35 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, central London, has outlasted empires and overcome challenges including the Blitz during the Second World War as well as plans for a dual carriageway.
A long future ahead
This place is an outstanding piece of living history… it has defied the odds to be standing here today, doors still open and treacle sponge still on the menu. Mr Mayhew’s extraordinary generosity, and the care he has poured into Rules over many decades, mean this beloved place has a future measured not in years but generations.
Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust
Caroline first learned of the suspected impersonation in August. An editor at the American magazine Chemistry and Engineering News said she had been contacted by someone proposing an article, but using a different email address to Caroline’s usual one.
Alongside their pitch, the emailer had claimed to be the author of Caroline’s previous newspaper stories. But after exchanging further emails, and getting poorly written replies, the editors became suspicious and alerted her.
She put a warning about the “Fake Caroline” on LinkedIn, in case other editors had been contacted.
“They are sending editors rambling and badly thought through pitches on subjects I care about, pointing editors to my book and my clips,” she wrote. “EDITORS: THIS IS NOT ME!!!”
The successful scam
That’s when editors at discovered they had already been scammed by “Fake Caroline” and published an article.
While the piece had needed heavy editing, they had paid the person $1,000 (£750), for a feature article headlined “Your heartbeat quietly shapes how your brain processes information.”
The piece was on Caroline’s expert area: interoception, the way we sense our body’s inner workings, such as our heartbeat. She has also written a book on the topic.
“The editor was surprised at the low quality of the story but decided to try to save it and work with the writer, as we often do,” says John Travis, managing news editor at .
Once the deception was discovered, used AI-detecting software that they claimed found the first draft had been written using AI. It also contained quotes copied from other online articles on interoception.
The piece was taken off its website.
“I feel really bad for [Caroline], and I wish we hadn’t gotten fooled on her behalf,” Travis adds.
The journal has since changed its policies so that editors will talk by phone or Zoom with any new writers, and will use AI-detecting software.
But Caroline says: “I was embarrassed that anyone thought this came from me. The only thing you’ve got as a freelancer is your reputation and your relationship with editors and scientists – and that was being eroded.”
Writers aren’t the only group whose living is under threat from AI. In the past few years, advances in “generative AI” has led to programs like ChatGPT that can write articles, dispense therapy, write computer code and produce convincing artwork, videos and music.
But to Caroline it seemed especially unjust that someone was using AI to write worse versions of articles she could have written herself, while trashing her reputation in the process.
The i Paper contacted “Fake Caroline” using the email address given to and the other publications.
Someone responded claiming they were in a fact a US journalist who shared the name of Caroline Williams. “I did not impersonate anyone. The piece published by was submitted under my own name and is my own work, and I reject the criticisms described in your email,” they said.
“I’ve written a lot about interoception and the mind-body connection for general audiences,” the email pitch stated, before linking to a piece the real Caroline had previously had published in magazine.
When asked about this, the “Fake Caroline” said: “Including that link was a mistake on my part. It was not meant to suggest that I wrote that piece, and it was not central to my pitch.
When asked for other examples of their work, the person said that “there is no need for additional clips” as the article “should be sufficient”. They also declined our offer of a Zoom call.
When this claim was put to Travis, he said the person pitching the story “clearly identified themselves as UK Caroline”.
‘This is a big problem for journalism’
Caroline also does not buy it. And she is not the only writer this has happened to. She knows of two other freelancers who say they have been subject to similar impersonation attempts.
More generally, AI-written articles are an increasing problem in journalism, she warns. Not only may they be badly written, but they contain plagiarism and inaccuracies – sometimes termed hallucinations.
For now, Caroline is continuing her fight to stop what she believes is impersonation. “I’ve emailed every editor I can think of at every magazine that I could conceivably think about pitching to,” she says.
“But it’s possible that there are loads of editors out there that have had fake pitches and either thought that it was the real me and I’m rubbish, or spotted that it was AI and ignored it. Who knows?”
But she adds: “It’s not just about me and my reputation – it’s a problem for journalism in general. AI hallucinations passed off as fact can find their way into common ‘knowledge’ despite being total nonsense – when that’s health-related it could be harmful.”