National newspaper publisher Gannett has paused the use of Lede AI to write high school sports content for its papers.
The Lede AI system used by Gannett took scoring recaps of high school games and produced articles — with unique verbiage that turned off some readers. So the publisher is sitting the technology on the bench.
A Columbus Dispatch article used a Spielbergian turn of phrase — “close encounters of the athletic kind” — for a football game between two Westerville, Ohio, high schools.
A Dispatch soccer article referred to the scoreboard being “in hibernation,” while a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel report on high school football said that neither team could “dent the scoreboard” in the second half.
An article in the Tennessean drew on the works of American literary forefather Washington Irving, describing the lack of scoring in the second and fourth quarters of a football game as a “Rip Van Winkle imitation” by the offenses.
Despite such creativity, a Gannett spokesperson told Axios, “This local AI sports effort is being paused. … We are continually evaluating vendors as we refine processes to ensure all the news and information we provide meets the highest journalistic standards.”
Lede AI CEO Jay Allred told CNN, “Our service provides readers and communities with information they would not otherwise have and frees reporters and editors to do real journalism that drives impact in the communities they serve.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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