ByErik Sherman,
Senior Contributor.
For the second time this year, Deloitte reportedly used generative artificial intelligence to “find” research citations that would help support their contracted reports to governments. The story is ultimately larger and has a lesson for how people manage their investment portfolios.
Canadian blogger Matt Barter seems to have broken the first part of the most recent story. Using an access-to-information request (I gather it is like a freedom of information act in the U.S.), he found that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Health and Community Services paid Deloitte Management Services $1,598,485 for a “Health Human Resource” plan that was to be a human resource strategy for the province’s healthcare sector.
Pricey, but not unusual. Governments frequently hire management consultant groups for analyses and reports. However, then came the other shoe drop. The Independent reported that the report contained at least four citations that didn’t appear to exist.
