AI documents ‘new, improved form of cheating’ as Wyoming journalist creates scandal

The quotes from Wyoming’s governor and local prosecutor were the first things that seemed off-putting to Powell Tribune reporter CJ Baker. Then, it was some of the sentences in the news that struck him as robotic.

However, a dead giveaway that a reporter from a competing news company was using artificial intelligence to help write their stories appeared in a June 26 article about comedian Larry the Cable Guy being chosen as grand marshal of the Cody Stampede Parade.

“The 2024 Cody Stampede Parade promises to be an unforgettable celebration of American freedom, led by one of comedy’s most beloved personalities,” reports the Cody Enterprise. “This structure ensures that the most important information is presented first, making it easier for students to grasp the main points quickly.”

After digging, Baker, who has been a reporter for more than 15 years, met Aaron Pelczar, a 40-year-old newcomer to journalism who Baker says admitted to using AI in his stories before resigning. from Enterprise.

The publisher and editor of the Enterprise, founded in 1899 by Buffalo Bill Cody, has since apologized and vowed to take steps to ensure it never happens again. In an editorial published on Monday, Business Editor Chris Bacon said he “failed to catch” the AI ​​copy and false quotes.

“It doesn’t matter that the fake quotes were the obvious mistake of a fast-paced reporter trusting AI. It was my job,” Bacon wrote. He apologized that “AI is allowed to put words that have never been spoken in the news.”

Journalists have had their jobs compromised by making up quotes or facts in stories long before AI existed. But this latest scandal shows the potential pitfalls and dangers of AI in many industries, including journalism, as chatbots can spit out lies if only a few sound-sounding articles and instructions are given.

AI has found a role in journalism, including the automation of certain tasks. Some newsrooms, including the Associated Press, are using AI to free up reporters for more intensive work, but most AP staff are not allowed to use productive AI to create published content.

The AP has been using technology to help with articles about earnings reports since 2014, and more recently for other sports stories. It also tries with an AI tool to translate some stories from English to Spanish. At the end of such a story there is a note explaining the role of technology in its production.

Being transparent about how and when AI is used has proven to be important. Sports Illustrated was criticized last year for publishing reviews of an AI-powered online product that it presented as written by reporters who weren’t actually there. After this issue came to light, SI said it was firing the company that produces the documents for its website, but this incident damaged the reputation of this once powerful publication.

In his Powell Tribune story covering Pelczar’s use of AI in headlines, Baker wrote that he had an uncomfortable but pleasant meeting with Pelczar and Bacon. During the meeting, Pelczar said, “Obviously I never tried to quote anyone on purpose” and promised to “correct them and apologize and say they were mistakes,” Baker wrote, noting that Pelczar insisted that his mistakes should not be considered his mistakes. Editors of Cody Enterprise.

After the meeting, the Enterprise presented a comprehensive review of all the stories Pelczar wrote for the paper in the two months he worked there. They found seven stories that included AI-generated quotes from six people, Bacon said Tuesday. He is still updating other stories.

“It’s a very believable quote,” Bacon said, noting that people he spoke to while reviewing Pelczar’s articles said the quotes sounded like something they would say, but that they had never actually spoken to Pelczar.

Baker reported that seven people told him they had been quoted in stories written by Pelczar, but did not speak to him.

Pelczar did not return an AP phone message left at the number listed asking to discuss what happened. Bacon said Pelczar declined to discuss the matter with another Wyoming newspaper that received help.

Baker, who regularly reads the Enterprise because it is a competitor, told the AP that a combination of phrases and quotes in Pelczar’s stories raised his suspicions.

Pelczar’s story about the shooting in Yellowstone National Park included the sentence: “This incident is a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of human behavior, even in calm situations.”

Baker said the line sounds like summaries of his stories that seem to be generated by some chatbot, because it touches on some kind of “life lesson” at the end.

One issue — about a poaching sentence — included quotes from a wildlife official and prosecutor that sounded like they were from a news release, Baker said. However, the news had not been released and the agencies involved did not know where these quotes came from, he said.

The two stories in question included fake quotes from Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon that his staff only learned about when Baker called them.

“On one occasion, (Pelczar) wrote a story about a new OSHA rule that included a quote from the Governor that was completely fabricated,” Michael Pearlman, a spokesman for the governor, said in an email. “Secondly, he appeared to make up part of a quote, and then combined it with part of a quote that was included in a news release announcing the new director of our Wyoming Game and Fish Department.”

The most obvious AI-generated copy came from a story about Larry the Cable Guy that ended with an inverted pyramid explanation, a basic way to write a breaking news story.

It’s not hard to create AI stories. Users can feed a criminal affidavit into the AI ​​system and ask it to write an article about the case that includes quotes from local officials, said Alex Mahadevan, director of the digital media education project at the Poynter Institute, a prominent journalism think tank.

“These artificial AI chatbots are programmed to give you feedback, whether that feedback is complete garbage or not,” Mahadevan said.

Megan Barton, publisher of Cody Enterprise, has written a blog that calls AI “a new, advanced form of plagiarism and in the media and writing industry, plagiarism is something every media outlet has had to deal with at some point.” The worst part of the job. But, a company that is willing to fix (or literally document) these mistakes is something with a good reputation.”

Barton wrote that the newspaper has learned its lesson, has a program to identify AI-generated news and will “have long conversations about how AI-generated news is unacceptable.”

The Enterprise didn’t have an AI policy, in part because it seemed clear that reporters shouldn’t use it to write stories, Bacon said. Poynter has a template from which news outlets can build their AI policy.

Bakoni plans to have one by the end of the week.

“This will be the subject of discussion before hiring,” he said.

-Amy Beth Hanson, Associated Press