Major newspaper company temporarily suspends article writing by AI after ``problematic sports article written by AI'' was criticized on SNS



Gannett , a major newspaper company that publishes more than 100 daily newspapers in the United States, was criticized on SNS for having many problems with 'sports articles written by AI' published by local newspapers under its umbrella. We have temporarily suspended an experiment in writing sports articles using AI.

Columbus Dispatch pauses AI sports writing tool following viral story - Axios Columbus
https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/08/28/dispatch-gannett-ai-newsroom-tool



Gannett to pause AI experiment after botched high school sports articles | CNN Business
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/30/tech/gannett-ai-experiment-paused/index.html

Gannett backtracks after readers ridicule AI-written sports recaps - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/31/gannett-ai-written-stories-high-school-sports/

In recent years, various news media have tested 'article writing by text generation AI', but at the time of article creation, these tests have resulted in highlighting various problems. CNET, a major media outlet, also began posting financial commentary articles using AI from November 2022, but it has been pointed out that the articles made by AI contain many errors, and articles on competitors and affiliated sites are very different. It has been seen as a problem that it contains sentences that are very similar to .

Even so, in July 2023, the parent company of the IT news site Gizmodo will begin generating articles using AI despite the opposition of the editorial staff.

News site Gizmodo management company starts generating articles using AI despite staff opposition - GIGAZINE



Meanwhile, Gannett, which publishes various community-based newspapers, was also testing Lade AI , an artificial intelligence company that develops AI-based article writing tools for writing sports articles. Lade AI claims to be able to generate articles from ``sports game scores'', and in August 2023, in a local newspaper actually published by Gannett, an article on ``high school sports game results'' will be published by Lade AI. It is said that it was written by.

However, the sports articles written by Lade AI are characterized by the use of strange wording, and because they only source scores, there are no details about the content of the game or the players. As a result, it became the subject of ridicule on social media, with people saying, ``This sports article written by AI is terrible.''

One of the most talked about social media stories is the result of the football game between Westerville North High School and Westerville Center High School published in Gannett's Columbus Dispatch . The article strangely describes the game of football as 'a close encounter of the athletic kind.'



Also, in an article reporting on the results of football matches between Worthington Christian High School and Westerville North High School, behind the high school name at the beginning were ``WINNING_TEAM_MASCOT (the winning team's mascot)'' and ``LOSING_TEAM_MASCOT (the losing team's mascot). '', which clearly indicates that no human intervention has been made.



According to major daily newspapers The Washington Post and CNN, several sports articles generated by Lade AI include 'was in hibernation in the fourth quarter' and 'The Pilots avoided the brakes. and shifted into victory gear (the pilot avoids the brakes and puts in victory gear), ``high school football action'', ``took victory away from'', ``cruise-control'' It is said that unique expressions such as 'wins (wins were cruise controlled)' were frequently seen. It was also reported that the game's dates tended to repeat every few paragraphs.

Gannett suspended Lade AI experiments in all local newspapers after the AI-generated article received negative attention on social media. In response to inquiries from online media Axios, a Gannett spokesperson said, 'We're not only adding hundreds of reporters across the country, but we're also building tools for reporters using automation and AI to help our readers. We are also experimenting with adding content to .To ensure that all the news and information we provide meets the highest journalistic standards, we continuously evaluate our vendors while improving our processes. I am.” I replied.

Lade AI CEO Jay Allred told The Washington Post and CNN that the articles generated for Gannett contained 'several errors, unnecessary repetition, or nasty wording.' I admit it. Lade AI has begun efforts to fix the issue and has made appropriate changes.

Despite the problems with Lade AI-generated articles, Allred still argues that automation is important to the future of local news. “Our services provide readers and communities with information they would otherwise not have access to, enabling reporters and editors to practice true journalism that impacts the communities they serve. We can,” Allred said.

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