The author, Virginia Dignum, a professor in responsible AI at Umeå University, denied references in her book The AI Paradox were fabricated and said she made “ordinary editing mistakes.”

Frank Drewes, head of the computing science department at Umeå University, told that the institution received a report containing the allegations from an anonymous individual on July 6, 2026 and referred the case to the National Board for Assessment of Research Misconduct (NPOF) in Uppsala, in accordance with Swedish regulation. NPOF ruled on Sept. 4, 2026 that the allegations fall outside their remit and will not be investigated.

In its report, NPOF said Dignum “does not regard the book as research, but rather as a popular science work… No research claims are made in the book. She wrote the book in her spare time, not within the scope of any research funding.” Umeå and the misconduct board did not find any evidence to contradict Dignum’s claims.

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