Why the Fake Experts Scandal is Great News for Good PRs
After 50 AI-generated 'experts' were outed by the UK Press Gazette, building trust and relationships with journalists is more important than ever.
The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every Thursday, we take a look at the media business from mainstream and “legacy” media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.
What do royal cleaner Anne Simmons, sex toy expert Barbara Santini and lottery winner Gareth Thomas have in common?
Well, the first thing is that they have all appeared in the UK media multiple times.
And the second is that none of them – as far as we can tell – actually exist.
They are among hundreds of fake experts who have given tips on every lifestyle matter, ranging from cookery and gardening to skin care and how to win money in online gaming.
And journalists’ inboxes have been bombarded in recent months with press releases containing these AI-created characters, often complete with computer generated images.
The media trade publication, the UK Press Gazette, has compiled a remarkable list of 50 fake experts who have appeared in newspaper, magazines and online more than 1,000 times but simply do not exist (interestingly what the Press Gazette hasn’t done is go as far as highlighting real people but without the expertise they are claiming to have… but that might be for another day).
It’s a live list that seems bound to be added to in time. And those who have been caught out by the scam range from the BBC to the Mirror to the Metro and HuffPost (and let’s be honest it’s a problem that goes beyond the UK).
But what can comms people do to stand out from the fake experts and the AI dross?
