Sports Illustrated has existed since 1954 and established itself as one of the premier sports media groups in the industry. They have become known for their sports magazines as well as their daily news articles covering all relevant topics in sports. Recently, their journalistic integrity has been jeopardized after they were exposed for publishing AI-generated stories.
According to Front Office Sports, Sports Illustrated has been posting stories created by artificial intelligence and giving credit to writers that do not exist. They even went as far as creating fake profiles with AI-generated headshots and fictional stories about these made-up characters.
Sports Illustrated was asked about it after people began to take notice on social media and all content was removed from their page shortly thereafter.
In media and journalism, it is imperative to maintain the utmost honesty. If that is compromised, how can readers believe anything the author is saying? Or, in this instance, how can they know that the author they’re reading exists?
As AI becomes more refined, it can lead to situations like this. While it is nice to see technology advance the way it has, it is scary to think a company like Sports Illustrated can use it to manipulate readers for their benefit.
Hopefully, we get more clarity as time goes on regarding why and how this happened.
