The Irish Times has apologized for publishing an op-ed piece that it believed was partially generated by artificial intelligence, saying in a hoax that its editors were highlighting challenges facing the news industry.
Ruadan Mac Cormaich said he “deeply regrets” that the newspaper published an op-ed on Thursday morning titled “Irish women’s obsession with fake tans is problematic.”
The author’s name is Adriana Acosta-Cortez, who is believed to be a 29-year-old medical administrator from Ecuador and living north of Dublin.
The opinion also included a photo of the supposed author.
The article discusses the widespread use of fake tans in Ireland, suggesting that it is a form of cultural appropriation.
On Friday afternoon, several people on social media questioned whether the photo and the author’s name were of a real person.
By about 5:30 p.m. Friday, the body of the opinion piece had been removed and replaced with the sentence, “The body of this article has been deleted pending review.”
A letter from the editor On Sunday, Mac Cormike said the newspaper had fallen victim to deliberate deception and was not “disrespecting it.”.
“This has betrayed the trust of The Irish Times and its readers and I deeply regret it,” he said.
“This incident highlights a gap in our pre-publication procedures. We need to make it more robust, and we will.”
Mac Cormike said the incident highlights one of the challenges generative AI has posed for news organizations.
“We will learn and adapt, just like everyone else,” the editor said.
He said the Irish Times is working hard to provide an opinion column with a mix of thought-provoking columns that “inform, inspire and give new perspectives on current issues”.
But the editor said on Thursday that the paper “went terribly wrong.”
“We posted an opinion column online under the headline ‘Irish women’s obsession with fake tanning’ written by a young Irish immigrant woman,” she said.
“The program put discussions that were broadcast in other countries into the context of Ireland.
“Over the course of several days, authors worked with relevant editorial desks, accepted editorial suggestions, provided personal anecdotes, and provided links to relevant research.
“These were all taken in good faith and the article was published online Thursday morning.”
Mac Cormike said the paper realized within 24 hours that the column might not be authentic.
“For this reason, we have removed it from the site and started a review, which is still ongoing,” he said.
“It has been determined that the article and accompanying signature photo may have been created, at least in part, using generative AI techniques.
“It was a hoax. The person we were communicating with was not who they claimed to be. We were victims of a deliberate and systematic deception.”
Mac Cormike said the Irish Times will continue to “create space for new reporters, especially those from underrepresented communities” and “provide the quality journalism you expect.” I will go,” he said.
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