Renowned outlets including Wired and Business Insider published features attributed to the byline Margaux Blanchard that appear to have been fictionalized and AI-generated. Press Gazette and Index on Censorship identified at least one piece that appears to have been written by AI. Generative chatbots are increasingly capable of producing believable copy that can deceive editors. Both Business Insider and Wired removed the suspected pieces and posted editor's notes. The financial gain for the perpetrator is unknown but could be substantial given typical long-form reporting fees.
As Press Gazette reports in a fascinating investigation, numerous outlets have removed features published under the byline of "Margaux Blanchard" after suspicion emerged that the stories were fictionalized and AI-generated. After Press Gazette reached out to the non-profit Index on Censorship over an article by the same author, for instance, the publisher concluded that the piece "appears to have been written by AI."
It's an especially galling situation for Wired, a publication that routinely features excellent coverage about how generative AI is slowly drowning the internet in uninspired slop, often undermining human creativity in the process. It's unclear how much money the person behind the ruse got away with, but considering that Wired sometimes pays thousands of dollars for in-depth, long-form reporting, it could be a considerable sum.
Collection
[
|
...
]