As book-banning in America hits a 21-year-high with hundreds of books targeted and pulled from shelves across the country, one Iowa country turned to artificial intelligence to assist school officials in meeting the state’s new laws limiting what material is allowed in schools. The district says it first compiled a list of commonly challenged books, and then used the AI tool ChatGPT to scan that list for books with descriptions of sex. But by starting with a list of quote “commonly challenged” books, the district was already leaning into the right-wing ideology that has targeted books that deal with LGBTQ issues, slavery, white supremacy, and sexuality. “Artificial intelligence really isn’t the main problem here,” says NBC News senior reporter, and former librarian, Brandy Zadrozny. “The book banning is the real problem.”