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G\/O Media, who owns popular tech site Gizmodo<\/em> along with a slew of other outlets, began publishing AI-generated articles last week, despite strong objections from many of the members of its staff, according to The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>. The articles are all credited to various bots \u2014 Gizmodo<\/em> Bot, for example \u2014 with no other indication that the article was created using an AI chatbot. Unsurprisingly, the stories needed a lot of work<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The internal reaction to Gizmodo<\/em>\u2019s first chatbot-created story \u2014 a chronological list<\/a> of Star Wars<\/em> movies that wasn\u2019t chronological<\/a> \u2014 wasn\u2019t exactly enthusiastic, with journalists reportedly writing in Slack that it was \u201cactively hurting our reputations and credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Brown told staff in an email<\/a> in late June that G\/O Media\u2019s collection of technology outlets meant it was important that it use AI in its coverage, saying there would be errors, but they\u2019d be promptly fixed. In a company slack from Thursday that The Washington Post<\/em> viewed, Brown told the team in Slack he was \u201ceager to thoughtfully gather and act on feedback,\u201d saying better things \u201cwill come forward as we wrestle with the best ways to use the technology.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Again, staff journalists expressed dismay, with one calling AI \u201ca solution looking for a problem,\u201d and accusing Brown of \u201cwasting everyone\u2019s time.\u201d Another pointed out that there was nothing in their job descriptions that included \u201cediting or reviewing AI-produced content.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gizmodo<\/em> Deputy Editor James Whitbrook told the Post<\/em> in an interview that he\u2019d never dealt with \u201cthis basic level of incompetence with any of the colleagues that I have ever worked with,\u201d adding that the chatbot\u2019s seeming inability to even put Star Wars<\/em> movies in the right order meant it couldn\u2019t be trusted to report anything accurately. Whitbrook said he hadn\u2019t asked for the article, nor had he seen it prior to publication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Post<\/em> reports that the articles were written using both Google\u2019s Bard and OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n G\/O Media is just one of many media companies that have experimented with AI-generated content in the last few months. CNET <\/em>recently began overhauling<\/a> its approach to AI after suffering heavy media criticism over its use of the technology, while Insider<\/em> started its own experiment<\/a> with ChatGPT in April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n GMG Union, which represents Gizmodo\u2019<\/em>s writers and is part of the Writers Guild of America, East, asked readers not to click on any AI-written articles<\/a>, saying the articles are \u201cunethical and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We\u2019ve reached out to G\/O Media for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Disclosure: Vox Media\u2019s editorial team, which includes The Verge, is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n