Social media users were quick to criticize Microsoft this week for what appeared to be an AI-generated obituary for NBA player Brandon Hunter on its website MSN. The controversy began when the obituary, written by someone identified as “Editor,” appeared on the Microsoft-owned platform after Hunter’s death on Tuesday. The obituary referred to Hunter as being “useless at 42” and stated that he had been “handed away” at the age of 42. It also mentioned his career highlights, including playing for the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic and achieving a career-high of 17 points in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2004.
The obituary seemed to follow a similar format to a story on TMZ Sports, but with altered punctuation and liberal use of synonyms, making it incomprehensible. The website where the obituary originated, Race Track, has since disappeared along with the obituary on MSN. This raised questions about the authenticity of the obituary and whether it was generated by AI, a poor translation program, or plagiarism.
Users on Reddit and other platforms debated the source of the obituary, with some speculating that it was a result of Microsoft’s use of AI in its articles. This comes after Microsoft faced criticism for featuring a travel guide on MSN that recommended a Canadian food bank in Ottawa, which was blamed on a combination of algorithmic techniques and human review.
Microsoft, which has made a significant investment in OpenAI, was also criticized for firing journalists from MSN in 2020 and syndicating questionable articles. However, a Microsoft spokesperson stated that they are committed to enhancing their systems to prevent inaccurate information from being published. The obituary has since been removed from MSN.
It is important for Microsoft and other companies to prioritize the accuracy of the content they publish and take measures to ensure that AI-generated or syndicated articles maintain a high standard of quality.
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