Sports Illustrated faces allegations of publishing articles generated by artificial intelligence

Sports Illustrated has come under scrutiny after it was alleged that the publication used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate articles and published them under fake author names. Futurism, a tech publisher, discovered the issue when it found author headshots on an AI-generated image website. The Sports Illustrated Union expressed their shock and demanded journalistic integrity from the publication. While the publisher's owner denied the allegations, an internal investigation has been launched. Arena Group, which owns Sports Illustrated, licensed the content from a third-party company called Advon Commerce, but has now ended its partnership with them. The content in question has been removed by Sports Illustrated. Advon Commerce has not yet commented on the matter. The union condemned the publisher's actions and called for adherence to basic journalistic standards. Concern is rising within the media industry that AI could replace journalists, leading to potential misinformation. Some newsrooms have already faced criticism for publishing AI articles with errors or falsehoods. The findings have shocked Sports Illustrated staff, particularly as Arena Group has laid off many employees in recent years. Mitch Goldich, an editor at Sports Illustrated who leads the union, expressed his dismay and changed his name on social media to highlight the importance of human journalists.