Sports Illustrated has come under fire over some really strange practices.
The iconic publication has been accused of publishing AI-generated articles attributed to writers who do not exist.
One such author, Drew Ortiz, was described as an outdoor lover on his profile, though there was nothing else to suggest he’s a real person as he has no publishing history or social media presence.
“Drew has spent much of his life outdoors, and is excited to guide you through his never-ending list of the best products to keep you from falling to the perils of nature,” it stated. “Nowadays, there is rarely a weekend that goes by where Drew isn’t out camping, hiking, or just back on his parents’ farm.”
Drew’s profile photo has been traced back to a website that sells AI-generated headshots. He’s described as a “neutral white young-adult male with short brown hair and blue eyes” on there.
It’s being reported that there were plenty of other fake authors with pieces published on SI.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
“There’s a lot,” an anonymous source told Futurism.com. “I was like, what are they? This is ridiculous. This person does not exist.
“At the bottom [of the page] there would be a photo of a person and some fake description of them like, ‘oh, John lives in Houston, Texas. He loves yard games and hanging out with his dog, Sam.’ Stuff like that. It’s just crazy.”
Some of the work from the AI authors read as if it did not come from human beings, according to the report. For example, one article from Ortiz claimed that volleyball “can be a little tricky to get into, especially without an actual ball to practice with.”
“The content is absolutely AI-generated,” another source said, “no matter how much they say that it’s not.”
Futurism.com claims to have reached out to The Arena Group, which is SI’s publisher. They did not receive a response, and all of the authors have since disappeared from the site.
