January 23, 2023
CNET will no longer publish articles written entirely by robots after receiving a barrage of criticism over the practice in recent weeks.
This comes shortly after the website launched an investigation into its machine-generated content after it was discovered that the pieces were factually incorrect.
“We didn’t do it in secret. We did it quietly,” CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo is quoted as telling staff. The AI engine CNET used was reportedly built by its owner, Red Ventures, and is proprietary.
The program’s lack of a formal announcement, as well as the shoddy quality of the articles it produced and the general sense that it was a pilot program designed to lay off entry-level writers, sparked outrage.
One such story misled readers about compound interest; another incorrectly told readers they would pay a certain amount of interest if they took out a car loan at a certain rate. Futurist, the publication that exposed CNET’s use of content-creating robots, first reported the errors.
Company executives stated that they will restart the program once the negative press coverage subsides.
The sources for this piece include an article in TheRegister.
