Sports Illustrated ran articles under bylines of people who don't exist, with AI-generated headshots and bios
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Source: theguardian.com ↗
AdVon has assured us that all of the articles in question were written and edited by humans.
Futurism found that Sports Illustrated published articles under bylines belonging to people who do not exist. The fake authors came with AI-generated headshots and biographies. One "Sora Tanaka," product reviewer and lifelong fitness guru, was "thrilled to bring her fitness and nutritional expertise to the Product Reviews Team." A volleyball article credited to "Drew Ortiz" explained to readers that volleyball is fast-paced, has a high skill ceiling, and is generally exciting to both play and watch.
The Arena Group, which acquired SI in 2019, said the articles were commercial content supplied by the advertising firm AdVon Commerce, that AdVon had assured it everything was "written and edited by humans," and that it was in the midst of a review when the allegations surfaced. It then cut ties with AdVon and removed the content. The magazine laid off staff earlier in 2023, shortly after CEO and chairman Ross Levinsohn announced the company's incorporation of AI. In February he said that "while AI will never replace journalism, reporting, or crafting and editing a story, rapidly improving AI technologies can create enterprise value for our brands and partners."