Drew Ortiz, a purported author on Sports Illustrated, seems to be a fictional entity created solely for the website.
A recent investigation by Futurism revealed that Sports Illustrated had published articles attributed to artificial intelligence, complete with AI-generated bylines and images, only to remove them once questioned about their authenticity.
According to the report, numerous authors featured on the Sports Illustrated platform could not be verified outside of the publication. Additionally, many author photos were sourced from a website specializing in AI-generated images.
An undisclosed source involved in the content creation process at Sports Illustrated confirmed to Futurism that the questionable articles and visuals were indeed AI-generated.
“The content is unequivocally AI-generated,” the source disclosed to Futurism, debunking any claims to the contrary.
Following Futurism’s inquiries, Sports Illustrated promptly scrubbed the dubious authors from their site.
In response to the exposé, Sports Illustrated clarified that the contentious articles were product evaluations procured from a third-party entity, AdVon Commerce, which purportedly guaranteed the human origin of the content. Nevertheless, Sports Illustrated opted to retract the content and sever ties with AdVon.
While Sports Illustrated asserts that the articles were human-authored, Futurism highlighted one piece about volleyball equipment that struck a peculiar tone, described as “like it was written by an alien.”
The Sports Illustrated Union condemned the alleged practices in a statement, expressing dismay over the situation.
“If these allegations are accurate, they represent a fundamental breach of journalistic integrity,” the union’s statement emphasized. “We vehemently disassociate ourselves from such disrespectful conduct towards our audience.”
The union demanded transparency and accountability from the parent company, Arena Group, regarding the content published under the Sports Illustrated banner. They insisted on upholding basic journalistic principles, including refraining from disseminating computer-generated narratives under false identities.
The proliferation of AI technology has prompted various news outlets to explore its capabilities in content creation. For instance, Gannett, a newspaper conglomerate, experimented with AI-generated high school sports articles, which garnered attention for their error-ridden and subpar quality. Subsequently, Gannett suspended its AI initiative following the backlash on social media.
