Editors at The Washington Post are getting sick of the error-filled artificial intelligence podcasts their paper is churning out.
According to Semafor, "Earlier this week, the Post announced that it was rolling out personalized AI-generated podcasts for users of the paper’s mobile app. In a release, the paper said users will be able to choose preferred topics and AI hosts, and could 'shape their own briefing, select their topics, set their lengths, pick their hosts and soon even ask questions using our Ask The Post AI technology.'"
However, according to four sources, just two days into the release of the feature, the podcasts are being flagged for being riddled with errors. "The errors have ranged from relatively minor pronunciation gaffes to significant changes to story content, like misattributing or inventing quotes and inserting commentary, such as interpreting a source’s quotes as the paper’s position on an issue."
Adding to the unsettling nature of the content, "the Post’s AI podcasts also include fake podcast tics, such as ums, uhs, and prolonged pauses, simulating the speech patterns of podcasters."
This comes during a period of transition and tension for The Washington Post, as billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, who for years did not intervene heavily in the affairs of the paper, began to take a heavier hand in editorial policies.
Last year, Bezos triggered a mass exodus of subscriptions and staff after he strongarmed the editorial board to kill an endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris, and again after he proclaimed that the editorial pages would not allow any writeups he deems to be against "free markets." The Washington Post also came under fire for publishing a defense of President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project while initially failing to disclose that Bezos was a donor to it.
