On November 27, 2023 Futurism reported that Sports Illustrated had published product-review articles attributed to writers who do not appear to exist. One bylined author, “Drew Ortiz,” had no social media presence and no publishing history, and his profile photo was for sale on a website that sells AI-generated headshots. The articles were licensed content supplied by a third-party firm, AdVon Commerce, and presented as the work of real Sports Illustrated contributors.
After Futurism approached the magazine’s publisher, the Arena Group, the suspect author profiles disappeared from the site without explanation. AdVon said its writers sometimes used pen names to protect their privacy, which the Arena Group said it did not condone; the Arena Group removed the content and later ended the partnership. Sources familiar with the work disputed AdVon’s account, and the statements never squarely addressed the core allegation of fabricated authors with AI-generated faces.
The scandal damaged the credibility of one of America’s most storied sports brands and crystallized fears about AI-generated content masquerading as human journalism. Where CNET’s failure was undisclosed AI writing, Sports Illustrated’s added invented human identities, a step further into deception. For a general reader, it is a stark example of how outsourced, AI-assisted content farms can hollow out a trusted masthead from the inside, and why provenance and honest bylines matter.