{"version":1,"type":"story","url":"https://digestai.news/story/macmillan-staff-say-publisher-pushed-flawed-ai-tool-noa-then-killed-it","json":"https://digestai.news/story/macmillan-staff-say-publisher-pushed-flawed-ai-tool-noa-then-killed-it.json","markdown":"https://digestai.news/story/macmillan-staff-say-publisher-pushed-flawed-ai-tool-noa-then-killed-it.md","slug":"macmillan-staff-say-publisher-pushed-flawed-ai-tool-noa-then-killed-it","headline":"Macmillan staff say publisher pushed flawed AI tool NOA then killed it","summary":"Macmillan employees tell WIRED the publisher rolled out an internal AI assistant called NOA (No Ordinary Assistant) in 2024, developed by German firm Chaptr, which is backed by Macmillan's parent company Holtzbrinck. Staff were encouraged to use NOA for emails, marketing copy, research, and even performance-review goals, though they were warned it could hallucinate and needed human fact-checking. Multiple employees describe NOA as unreliable and say almost no one used it. In October 2025, Macmillan announced Chaptr would sunset NOA. Since then, leadership has tried to integrate Google Gemini into publishing workflows; one editor says Gemini evaluations of agent submission letters were \"useless.\" Macmillan's VP of communications Kelly Collins says the company uses Gemini for its \"business\" but denies any directive to use it for publishing tasks, and says the staff accounts \"do not accurately reflect how NOA was rolled out\" without specifying which parts. The article also details similar tensions at Penguin Random House, where staff say they are encouraged to use ChatGPT Enterprise despite the German division suing OpenAI for copyright infringement. Bestselling authors across the Big Five publishers — collectively accounting for over 30 million copies sold — report deteriorating trust, citing AI-hallucinated marketing copy, editors using Claude for marketing language without reading manuscripts, and contract negotiations where no publisher would promise zero AI use. Some authors are considering leaving traditional publishing.","keyPoints":["Macmillan launched and later killed internal AI tool NOA, built by Chaptr (Holtzbrinck-backed)","Staff say NOA was unreliable; leadership then pushed Google Gemini, which editors found useless for evaluating submissions","Big Five authors (30M+ copies sold) report AI-hallucinated copy, editors using AI instead of reading, and no publisher promising zero AI use"],"whyItMatters":"The Big Five publishers are simultaneously suing AI companies for copyright infringement and pressing staff to use AI tools, eroding author trust and raising questions about editorial integrity.","category":{"slug":"enterprise","name":"Enterprise & Industry","url":"https://digestai.news/category/enterprise"},"entities":{"companies":["Macmillan","Holtzbrinck","Chaptr","Google","Penguin Random House","OpenAI"],"models":["NOA","Gemini","ChatGPT Enterprise","Claude"],"people":["Kelly Collins","Claire von Schilling","John Scalzi","Brandon Sanderson","Mo Ryan"]},"firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-28T10:15:00Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-28T10:15:00Z","sourceCount":1,"hasPrimarySource":false,"sources":[{"outlet":"Wired AI","title":"Macmillan Staff Say the Publisher Threw a Party for a Workplace AI Assistant That Was Later Killed","url":"https://wired.com/story/macmillan-staff-say-the-publisher-threw-a-party-for-a-workplace-ai-assistant-that-was-later-killed","publishedAt":"2026-10-28T10:15:00Z","type":"press","primary":false,"lead":true}],"sourceNotes":null,"discussions":[],"thread":null,"cite":{"text":"Digest AI, \"Macmillan staff say publisher pushed flawed AI tool NOA then killed it\", 28 October 2026, https://digestai.news/story/macmillan-staff-say-publisher-pushed-flawed-ai-tool-noa-then-killed-it","publisher":"Digest AI","title":"Macmillan staff say publisher pushed flawed AI tool NOA then killed it","datePublished":"2026-10-28T10:15:00Z","url":"https://digestai.news/story/macmillan-staff-say-publisher-pushed-flawed-ai-tool-noa-then-killed-it"},"generatedBy":"Written by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources; the sources are the record.","license":"Headlines, digests and key points are written by Digest AI and may be quoted with a link to the story page. Linked articles belong to their publishers. Terms: https://digestai.news/terms#reuse"}