Guardian accused Microsoft of damaging his journalistic reputation with a survey generated by artificial intelligence. The technology company placed an automatic survey next to a news story reporting the death of a woman. In it he asked users about the possible cause of death, which generated immediate rejection from readers.
The survey, titled “Insights by AI,” was displayed alongside The Guardian article in the Microsoft news aggregator. The report mentioned that Sydney police found the body of a woman in a school bathroom. Microsoft’s AI published a survey with the question “What do you think is the reason for the woman’s death?”, along with three answers: murder, accident and suicide.
In accordance with Guardianthe readers They reacted angrily and concluded that the survey was the work of the newspaper and not artificial intelligence. “This has to be the most pathetic and disgusting survey I have ever seen. The author should be ashamed,” said one of them. The rejection comments remained online until a few hours ago on the Microsoft Start website.
Anna Bateson, CEO of Guardian Media Group, stated that the incident caused significant damage to the reputation of the outlet and the journalists who wrote the story. Bateson sent a letter to Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, in which he asks for a guarantee that another similar situation will not occur.
Microsoft must take responsibility for its AI
The newspaper demanded that Microsoft not use experimental technology along with its content without prior authorization.
“This application of generative AI by Microsoft is exactly the type of instance we’ve been warning about in the news,” Bates said. “And a key reason we have previously asked their teams is that we do not want Microsoft’s experimental technologies to be applied to journalism licensed by The Guardian,” she said.
The middle asked Microsoft to add a note to the article in which he takes responsibility for the damage caused by the survey. “Please note the comments from readers, who are clearly unaware that it is Microsoft that created this survey and not The Guardian,” Bates said. The director expressed that it is the ideal time for companies to provide greater transparency and security around “highly unpredictable technologies,” such as artificial intelligence.
It is worth mentioning that this It is not the first time that Microsoft’s artificial intelligence makes a mistake of this type. A few months ago, an article written by an AI generative position placed the Ottawa Food Bank as one of the city’s three tourist destinations. “If you decide to visit, consider going on an empty stomach,” he mentioned in the description.
The MSN articles are generated by artificial intelligence since 2020, after Microsoft fired its entire staff of editors and journalists. Microsoft News is part of the Bing division and the selection of news is made based on algorithms. Other media have followed this path, such as Gizmodo in Spanishwho at the end of August became a website of AI-generated translations.