The Madras High Court has ordered Tamil Nadu’s anti-corruption agency to investigate how a newly opened public library in Coimbatore came to stock hundreds of books suspected of being generated using artificial intelligence, and to freeze bank accounts linked to a publisher accused of supplying them.
The inquiry concerns Periyar Arivulagam, a library built at a cost of about 3bn rupees ($34m; £26m). Named after the social reformer Periyar EV Ramasamy, it was inaugurated on 16 October by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
How the complaints began
The dispute surfaced after Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan, whose novels Pyre and One Part Woman have received international recognition, visited the library in October and raised concerns about books containing false information and carrying doubtful authorship.
Writing in an online magazine, Murugan said nearly 1,800 books in the library’s Tamil section had been supplied by a little-known publisher, Agal Vilakku Pathippagam. He said many of the titles listed unfamiliar author names, carried unusually high prices and bore questionable International Standard Book Numbers.
One book cited in the row, Naladiyar Vaazhvin Vazhikatti (A Guide to Life through Naladiyar), was priced at 1,445 rupees for 300 pages. It describes Naladiyar as a Tamil poet and philosopher, although Naladiyar is a classical Tamil work of 400 four-line verses on morality and ethics. Another book attributes the ancient Tamil poem Madurai Kanchi to an incorrect author.
Authorship questions beyond Coimbatore
Doubts have also been raised about a book held at another public library in Madurai. Democracy and People’s Rights in the Contemporary World names the economist Jean Drèze as its author and lists Phoenix Publishing House as its publisher. Drèze said earlier this week that he had not written the book, raising concerns that his name may have been used without his permission.
At a Chennai address given for both Agal Vilakku and Phoenix Publishing House, there were no signs identifying either business, though a woman at the premises confirmed that Agal Vilakku operated there. The firm’s proprietor, Mohan, declined to comment, saying the matter was before the courts.
It has not been established whether AI was used to produce any of the disputed titles.
Ministers, audits and a political dispute
School Education Minister A Rajmohan has described the allegations as potentially “India’s first AI scam” and said the investigation would also cover purchases made by other public libraries across the state.
The state government has blamed the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party-led administration for buying the books, and Rajmohan said the state would seek to recover public money if the inquiry found wrongdoing. The DMK rejects the allegations as politically motivated and has called for an investigation into the purchases.
The government has ordered an internal audit of public library collections. Rajmohan said 523 books had already been removed from the historic Connemara Public Library in Chennai after preliminary checks raised concerns about their authenticity and quality, and that disputed titles had also been withdrawn from Periyar Arivulagam while anti-corruption officials examine procurement records and inspect other libraries.
Wider concern over AI in publishing
More than 160 writers, researchers, artists and publishers have signed a joint statement seeking an independent inquiry, the release of procurement records and an audit of library collections across Tamil Nadu, along with the recovery of public funds if misuse is established. The signatories asked how the disputed books could have passed a selection process involving expert committees, price negotiations and several levels of review.
The case has drawn attention to the widening use of AI in publishing, where tools can produce entire books quickly and cheaply but can also generate false information and invented references, and to the difficulty libraries and publishers face in checking authenticity as such content spreads.