Sports Illustrated Wipes Out

Vendor AI practices - a potentially dangerous rip current to navigate around.

Are your vendors using AI to deliver content or services to you?

Make sure you have full transparency and have taken steps to manage legal and reputational risks.

Rough Waters Ahead

Sports Illustrated was in the news yesterday for publishing AI-generated content by AI-generated "writers" made to look like actual human writers, complete with "bios" about their rich lives and varied hobbies. Invented names and head shots for these AI-generated writers also had the (likely intended) effect of making their writing staff look more racially and gender diverse. And there was nary a word of disclosure on SI’s website that would have alerted readers to the machine-created nature of the writers or the content. https://futurism.com/sports-illustrated-ai-generated-writers

Conveniently, the publisher is blaming one of its third party vendors, AdVon Commerce, for this embarrassing and highly unethical situation. But SI's brand is still taking the hit, as this once award-winning publication has now managed to undermine the credibility of its publication and its entire journalistic staff, tick off the union, and subject itself to public ridicule--all for some truly terrible content. At least Jack got some magic beans in exchange for his cow. It'll be interesting to see how and if Sports Illustrated can recover from this wipeout.

In the meantime, here's an important reminder: review your vendor agreements to make sure they address issues raised by the rapidly expanding use of AI tools. Things like copyright ownership, infringement, data sourcing and security, privacy concerns, transparency, and indemnification and other remedies (so bore, I know). And make sure the pricing reflects the value you’re actually getting. Update your insurance coverage and riders (double bore). Develop holding statements so that you're prepared to respond if an unexpected situation arises. The old saying is true— an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

While AI is an exciting development and has some pretty cool tools (Pre/Dicta is my latest obsession), companies are well-advised to give serious thought to how this technology will affect their business. Leaders need a framework and a plan. And it's later than you think. Let the professionals at AIGG help you learn the language of AI, navigate its promises and pitfalls, and develop a winning and ethical strategy for your organization.