The owner of Sports Illustrated is refuting allegations that the renowned publication published articles authored by artificial intelligence under false bylines, clarifying that the stories have been retracted pending an investigation.
A report by Futurism claimed that Sports Illustrated utilized AI to create articles, along with generating headshots and bios for imaginary writers. Futurism also noted that details about these alleged authors vanished from Sports Illustrated’s website after Futurism reached out to The Arena Group, a media firm based in New York that oversees various publishing brands like Men’s Journal, Parade, and TheStreet.com.
The Arena Group released a statement on social media asserting that their initial probe found Futurism’s report to be inaccurate. They explained that the articles highlighted by Futurism were actually crafted by human writers working for AdVon Commerce, a company that previously had a content licensing agreement with Sports Illustrated.
The Arena Group spokesperson stated, “AdVon has confirmed that all the articles in question were authored and reviewed by humans.” However, they acknowledged that AdVon writers occasionally used pen names to safeguard their privacy, a practice The Arena Group disapproves of.
In response to the situation, Sports Illustrated is taking down the AdVon-produced articles while The Arena Group conducts further investigations. The partnership between Sports Illustrated and AdVon has been terminated. Stephen Cannella, the co-editor-in-chief of Sports Illustrated, did not provide a response to inquiries made via his LinkedIn account.
Despite The Arena Group’s denial of using AI for Sports Illustrated content, the incident raises concerns about the ethical boundaries surrounding technology usage in media production. Benjamin Lange, an AI ethicist and research group lead at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, emphasized the importance of upholding journalistic ethics, including honesty, trust, accuracy, and objectivity.
This controversy reflects a broader issue in the media industry and beyond regarding the lack of clear ethical guidelines for utilizing AI technology. Several publishers and companies have retracted AI-generated articles this year due to errors. For instance, CNET issued corrections for AI-written stories in January, and Microsoft withdrew a computer-generated travel guide in August after it suggested tourists in Ottawa visit a local food bank.
Following Futurism’s report, The Arena Group’s stock on Nasdaq plummeted over 22% to $2.09. The company, previously known as TheMaven, rebranded itself in 2021 and is helmed by Ross Levinsohn, the former CEO of Sports Illustrated. Recently, The Arena Group announced a merger with Bridge Media Networks, a producer of news, sports, and other content.
