---
title: "Margaret Atwood says the problem with AI is ‘garbage in, garbage out’"
slug: "margaret-atwood-says-the-problem-with-ai-is-garbage-in-garbage-out"
date: 2026-06-27
category: tech-pub
tags: [anthropic]
language: en
sources_count: 1
featured: false
publisher: AInauten News
url: https://news.ainauten.com/en/story/margaret-atwood-says-the-problem-with-ai-is-garbage-in-garbage-out
---

# Margaret Atwood says the problem with AI is ‘garbage in, garbage out’

**Published**: 2026-06-27 | **Category**: tech-pub | **Sources**: 1

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## TL;DR

- Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.

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## Summary

- Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.
- She said she had used Anthropic Claude exactly once, asking about the British detective series Father Brown. The answer, according to her, was wrong.
- Her main point: LLMs inherit gaps, bias, and outdated information from their source material. Her blunt summary was garbage in, garbage out.
- Atwood also criticized people who use AI as an easy way to cheat, but her practical warning was broader: even business users need to verify AI output.

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## Why it matters

Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.

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## Key Points

- Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.
- She said she had used Anthropic Claude exactly once, asking about the British detective series Father Brown. The answer, according to her, was wrong.
- Her main point: LLMs inherit gaps, bias, and outdated information from their source material. Her blunt summary was garbage in, garbage out.
- Atwood also criticized people who use AI as an easy way to cheat, but her practical warning was broader: even business users need to verify AI output.

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## Nauti's Take

The most interesting part is not that Claude got a Father Brown detail wrong. That happens. The real issue is that many users treat a polished answer as a verified answer. Atwood’s skepticism is old-fashioned in the useful sense: if you want knowledge, you still need sources, context, and judgment. AI can help with that work, but it does not replace it.

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## FAQ

**Q:** What is Margaret Atwood says the problem with AI is ‘garbage in, garbage out’ about?

**A:** - Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.

**Q:** Why does it matter?

**A:** Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.

**Q:** What are the key takeaways?

**A:** Margaret Atwood discussed AI at the Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto and made clear she remains deeply skeptical.. She said she had used Anthropic Claude exactly once, asking about the British detective series Father Brown. The answer, according to her, was wrong.. Her main point: LLMs inherit gaps, bias, and outdated information from their source material. Her blunt summary was garbage in, garbage out.

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## Related Topics

- [anthropic](https://news.ainauten.com/en/tag/anthropic)

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## Sources

- [Margaret Atwood says the problem with AI is ‘garbage in, garbage out’](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/958715/margaret-atwood-ai-problem-garbage-in-garbage-out) - The Verge AI

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## About This Article

This article is a synthesis of 1 sources, curated and summarized by AInauten News. We aggregate AI news from trusted sources and provide bilingual (German/English) coverage.

**Publisher**: [AInauten](https://www.ainauten.com) | **Site**: [news.ainauten.com](https://news.ainauten.com)

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*Last Updated: 2026-06-28*