Coding tools were the first generative AI tools in wide deployment. But they can hallucinate packages – and that can lead to troubles, according to The Register:

Several big businesses have published source code that incorporates a software package previously hallucinated by generative AI.

Not only that but someone, having spotted this reoccurring hallucination, had turned that made-up dependency into a real one, which was subsequently downloaded and installed thousands of times by developers as a result of the AI’s bad advice, we’ve learned. If the package was laced with actual malware, rather than being a benign test, the results could have been disastrous.

A well-timed hack could use a hallucination as a weapon.

Read all about that here.