Sports Illustrated (SI), one of the largest sports media publishers in the United States, has recently been accused of using AI-generated content for their website by Futurism. There frontpage article goes into detail, accusing SI of posting content from a writer named Drew Ortiz. 

It became obvious that Mr. Ortiz did not appear anywhere else online, having no social medi presence, professional profile pages on websites like LinkedIn, or content published on other websites. Instead, the investigative team found Mr Ortiz’s profile picture being sold on a website that sells AI generated images of human faces and content suggesting that SI had purchased the rights to use the profile’s namesake and image for the website. 

When Futurism reached out to SI about the issue, the website reacted by deleting all of the content written by Drew Ortiz and publishing a statement through their parent company Arena Group that blamed a 3rd party contractor, AdVon Commerce, for the mistake. 

The issue draws attention to a core fear being created by AI - putting jobs at risk. SI has maintained a key presence in the realm of sports, always being an example of journalistic integrity for athletes and sporting leagues. These accusations, however, show a different side of their business and suggest that journalism is already starting to be infiltrated by generative AI programs, increasing the risk of misinformation being spread.