Recently, I learned of two phenomena: that people today actually publish books almost entirely written by artificial intelligence and that AI programs, rather than admitting ignorance, may sometimes “hallucinate” a plausible sounding answer. I’ve now experienced both.

My journey into Münchhausen’s AI Syndrome began with my own very flawed human memory. Many years ago I read a short science fiction story in an old anthology that is now long lost. It made a deep impression on me, but I’m unable to recall the title or author.

Suddenly the thought struck me, perhaps Elon Musk’s synthetic AI brainchild Grok could collate the databases, archives, and library records out there and track down the lost story for me. So I gave it a try, attempting to supply Grok with what relevant information I could remember about the story. I asked, “Can you identify a sci-fi short story about a group of humans stranded in their reinforced habitat on a world dominated by hostile animals trying to genetically change themselves generation by generation to be able to survive among the hostile fauna on the planet?” My description of the plot continued, “When the last generation is released they do wipe out the animals outside, but immediately start digging in to attack their parent generation. The last line in the short story is something like “There’s Donald now.”” And so I set Grok to work.

And, by George, it came up with the answer! “The sci-fi short story you’re describing closely matches “Doomsday’s Genesis” by George O. Smith, published in Startling Stories in Spring 1945.” Granted, that title didn’t immediately ring any bells or shake any memories loose. But the short summary sounded close enough to be a match. “… a group of human scientists are … on a … planet called Kardon. The planet’s environment is extremely hostile, with deadly fauna … that make survival outside the dome nearly impossible for humans.”