CNET Was Secretly Publishing AI-Written Financial Articles Full of Basic Errors — for Months

In January 2023, Futurism discovered that CNET — a major technology news site — had been quietly publishing dozens of AI-generated financial explainer articles since November 2022, with no AI disclosure. The articles were bylined 'CNET Money Staff.' When the AI content was reviewed, fact-checkers found a significant percentage contained factual errors, including wrong interest rate calculations and incorrect statements about how financial products worked. CNET appended corrections to more than half the AI-generated articles. The editor-in-chief said the program was meant to 'free up time' for human journalists. Staff journalists, who had not been told about the program, were furious.

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🦅EST. 2024 · PUBLIC RECORDDEPT. OF AI WEIRDNESS
U.S. Department of
Artificial Intelligence Weirdness
Report #96← All Incidents
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CNET Was Secretly Publishing AI-Written Financial Articles Full of Basic Errors — for Months

Filed by @tech_media_auditTool: CNET AI (undisclosed)[original source ↗]
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In January 2023, Futurism discovered that CNET — a major technology news site — had been quietly publishing dozens of AI-generated financial explainer articles since November 2022, with no AI disclosure. The articles were bylined 'CNET Money Staff.' When the AI content was reviewed, fact-checkers found a significant percentage contained factual errors, including wrong interest rate calculations and incorrect statements about how financial products worked. CNET appended corrections to more than half the AI-generated articles. The editor-in-chief said the program was meant to 'free up time' for human journalists. Staff journalists, who had not been told about the program, were furious.

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