Sports Illustrated’s Parent Says Articles by Allegedly Fake Writers With AI-Generated Photos Came From Third-Party Provider

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After Sports Illustrated was called out for publishing articles from apparently nonexistent authors with AI-generated headshots, the company that operates SI said the content in question came from a third party that had provided assurances those were written by humans.

The Arena Group, which publishes Sports Illustrated, said it has ended its partnership with AdVon Commerce, the company that supplied the posts.

Reps for AdVon Commerce did not respond to a request for comment. Arena Group’s statement came after a piece published Monday by Futurism provided evidence that the photos of several authors listed on Sports Illustrated’s website were available for purchase on a website that sells AI-generated headshots.

For example, the bio of a writer on SI’s site named “Drew Ortiz” said that “Nowadays, there is rarely a weekend that goes by where Drew isn’t out camping, hiking, or just back on his parents’ farm.” The photo of “Drew Ortiz” as it appeared on the Sports Illustrated site was available on an AI-generated image website with the description “neutral white young-adult male with short brown hair and blue eyes,” per the Futurism report.