Today, it’s easy to mix these two ingredients together for an instant editorial disaster:
1) Content generated by artificial intelligence (AI); and
2) Lack of human oversight in the editorial process.
The result? A generative AI content catastrophe! This is a controversy that refuses to go away – and we will most likely continue to see it in the future.
Fallout
As if prior issues with the factual accuracy of AI-generated content weren’t enough, we now have even more fallout over the AdVon/Sports Illustrated (SI) fiasco. Remember, late last year, Futurism published an investigative article that alleged that SI published articles that were entirely generated by AI with fabricated author bylines, biographies and even AI-generated headshots.
These articles were licensed from AdVon Commerce, a third-party content and marketing company. SI initially claimed that AdVon had assured them the articles were “written and edited by humans,” with AdVon writers using pen names or pseudonyms for “author privacy.” However, PBS reported that Futurism quoted an unnamed SI source stating that it was likely that the content was generated by artificial intelligence, despite the magazine’s denials.
Even though the articles in question were removed from the SI website, backlash was swift and hard. The Arena Group, the parent company of SI, fired chief executive officer Ross Levinsohn, chief operating officer Andrew Kraft and president Rob Barrett; the entire editorial staff was laid off; and the Arena Group’s stock price plummeted 28% — a $20 million drop in its market cap.
Since then, SI has come back to life under new ownership, but this is a dramatic fall from grace for the 70-year-old pioneer in American sports journalism that was founded by Henry Luce, who also created Time magazine. In its prime, SI published articles by a pantheon of American writers, including William Faulkner, Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, John Updike, Carl Sandburg, James Michener, Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson (almost) and Kurt Vonnegut (almost).
A Generative AI Content Catastrophe Strikes Again!
Since that earlier article, Futurism has uncovered even more alleged cases of AdVon’s media damage as the generative AI content catastrophe strikes again! A more recent article, “Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industry,” reported that:
“As we traced AdVon’s web of fake bylines …, it quickly became clear that the company had been publishing content well beyond Sports Illustrated …
“We found the company’s phony authors and their work everywhere from celebrity gossip outlets like Hollywood Life and Us Weekly to venerable newspapers like the Los Angeles Times.
“And after we sent detailed questions about this story to McClatchy, a large publisher of regional newspapers, it also ended its relationship with AdVon and deleted hundreds of its pieces — bylined by at least 14 fake authors — from more than 20 of its papers, ranging from the Miami Herald to the Sacramento Bee.
“AdVon’s reach may be even larger. An earlier, archived version of its site bragged that its publishing clients included the Ziff Davis titles PC Magazine, Mashable and AskMen … as well as Hearst’s Good Housekeeping … and IAC’s Dotdash Meredith publications People, Parents, Food & Wine, InStyle, Real Simple, Travel + Leisure, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living.”
Wow!
Why didn’t any of these companies take the approach of using AI-generated content as a starting point to content creation, with human writers and editors then refining, fact-checking and enhancing it with their expertise and creativity? One could easily surmise that by cutting human editors out of the loop and turning the creation of content into a robotic assembly line, the cost of content creation was reduced to next to $0. Ironically, this is now what the content is worth to these companies (or even less based on public embarrassment and the financial hit to their bottom lines, like SI clearly found out).
These examples of the misuse of generative AI content highlight the problems that the lack of human editors, editorial oversight, accountability and adherence to journalistic standards can cause, which can ultimately lead to significant consequences.
Humanizing AI Content
Instead, by collaborating with generative AI, human editors can harness the power of this technology and alleviate these potential risks while ensuring human creativity and a unique perspective. That’s the role that generative AI should play.
The human touch is essential to maximizing the power of generative AI. Generative AI content must be humanized. By striking a balance between AI assistance and the human touch, content creators can ensure that their finished content is factually correct, relevant to its key audiences, contains a personal point of view and adheres to ethical standards.
Remember, we are writing for humans.
Interested in finding out how Writing For Humans™ can help you avoid a generative AI content catastrophe and instead ensure the most clear, concise and compelling content? Contact me at randy@writingforhumans.co for a free, no obligations consultation on leveraging this powerful technology.
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