Journalism Stories
6 disasters tagged #journalism
BBC/EBU study says AI news summaries fail ~half the time
A BBC audit of 2,700 news questions asked in 14 languages found that Gemini, Copilot, ChatGPT, and Perplexity mangled 45% of the answers, usually by hallucinating facts or stripping out attribution. The consortium logged serious sourcing lapses in a third of responses, including 72% of Gemini replies, plus outdated or fabricated claims about public-policy news, reinforcing fears that AI assistants are siphoning audiences while distorting the journalism they quote.
Syndicated AI book list ran in major papers with made-up titles
A King Features syndicated summer reading list used AI and included nonexistent books. It appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times and one edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer before corrections and apologies.
Sports Illustrated: Fake-Looking Authors and AI Content Backlash
Sports Illustrated faced criticism after product review articles appeared under profiles with AI-looking headshots and shifting bylines; content was removed and a partner relationship ended.
Microsoft’s AI poll on woman’s death sparks outrage
Microsoft Start auto-attached an AI ‘Insights’ poll speculating on a woman’s death beside a Guardian story.
Gannett pauses AI sports recaps after mockery
Gannett halted Lede AI high-school recaps after robotic, error-prone stories went viral.
CNET mass-corrects AI-written finance explainers
CNET paused and reviewed AI-generated money articles after multiple factual errors were found.