Senior reporter fired for using AI to create quotes
Ars Technica let go of senior reporter Benj Edwards after he used AI tools to create quotes in a recent article—quotes that were wrongly attributed to engineer Scott Shambaugh.
The issue came to light when Shambaugh spotted the fake statements, leading Ars Technica to retract the piece; editor-in-chief Ken Fisher published an editor's note confirming it contained "fabricated quotations generated by an AI tool."
Edwards took full responsibility for the mistake
Edwards owned up to the mistake on Bluesky, saying he "took 'full responsibility' and said that 'while working from bed with a fever and very little sleep, [he] unintentionally made a serious journalistic error.'"
He also made it clear his co-author wasn't involved.
The whole incident has sparked new worries about trusting AI-generated content in news reporting.