AI Chatbots Repeatedly Generate Stories About Fictional Character 'Elias Thorne', Researchers Investigate Why
By
Samantha Cole
Summary
A software engineer discovered that multiple large language models (LLMs) including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are repeatedly generating stories about a fictional character named 'Elias Thorne' — a lighthouse keeper, clockmaker, or librarian. This character has proliferated beyond chatbots into self-published AI-generated books on Amazon, YouTube content, and fake news sites. Searches for 'Elias Thorne' spiked in late 2025, and researchers are now investigating why this specific character has become a recurring hallucination or pattern across different AI models.
Source
bskyAI Chatbots Repeatedly Generate Stories About Fictional Character 'Elias Thorne', Researchers Investigate Why404media.coKey quotes
· 3 pulledSoftware engineer Daniel May first noticed the Elias takeover earlier this year; he found that on Google Trends, people weren't searching for 'Elias Thorne' until late 2025.
Depending on which chatbot you ask, Elias Thorne might be a clockmaker, a lighthouse keeper, or a librarian.
Elias's stories are flooding the self-published AI generated book market, Youtube, and fake news sites.
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