Ars Technica fires reporter after AI controversy involving fabricated quotes

Post by dust-jacket » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

WarmWash wrote: post #296

vintagedave wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sad to see them fire him. I've seen far worse: I have always approached issues by asking for accountability and improvement. Frankly, he already did: he openly apologised. I was very happy with that, it demonstrated integrity and I remained respecting him. Even worse, > I have been sick in bed with a high fever and unable to reliably address it (still am sick) [0] In an earlier HN thread, I saw someone ask why Ar…

Ars has probably the most rabid anti-AI audience of all the tech publications

Post by dust-jacket » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 4:07 PM UTC

bell-cot wrote: post #179

gwd wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the article doesn't include any facts that indicate this. It does include two facts: 1. That the reporter's bio on the webpage changed "...is a reporter at Ars " to "...was a reporter at Ars ". On the one hand, that's pretty thin sauce. On the other hand, that's not exactly the sort of change that gets made randomly. 2. They reached out to the various people involved, and although nobody has confirmed it, it's also…

IANAL, but those facts could support "fired", or "resigned", or "short-term contract not renewed", or probably other stuff.

Post by noboostforyou » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 4:15 PM UTC

madamelic wrote: post #290

Aurornis wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The author himself fell on his sword in detail on Bluesky. Not exactly. He wrote a long excuse blaming being sick, sidestepping the issue that he was using AI tools to write for him and not making an effort to fact check. Also Bluesky is not Ars Technica. It doesn’t matter what he posts on his own obscure social media page. We’re talking about the journalistic platform where he was given a wide audience. > Your onl…

Maybe I don't understand journalism but this guy being a reporter, shouldn't he have had an editor reviewing his work before they hit publish? I understand trusting a senior reporter but I would think due to libel concerns, they would check people's quotes ESPECIALLY if the reporter was sick. Honestly it seems like journalism has been in their 'vibe code' era for a decade where they just publish whatever typos and al…

Post by Aurornis » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 4:22 PM UTC

noboostforyou wrote: post #315

madamelic wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I don't understand journalism but this guy being a reporter, shouldn't he have had an editor reviewing his work before they hit publish? I understand trusting a senior reporter but I would think due to libel concerns, they would check people's quotes ESPECIALLY if the reporter was sick. Honestly it seems like journalism has been in their 'vibe code' era for a decade where they just publish whatever typos and al…

> Maybe I don't understand journalism but this guy being a reporter, shouldn't he have had an editor reviewing his work before they hit publish? While the journalist is still responsible for their own actions, I agree with you that this being published in the first place is indicative of a deeper failure akin to - "if a junior dev accidentally deletes your production db on their first day that's on the company itself…

Post by aizk » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

aizk wrote: post #318

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then, 6 months later a separate project I was adjacent to was starting to pick up steam. I reached out to him asking if he wanted to cover us. No response. [...] > I reached to Benji again saying "Hey would you like to chat again, now we have some coverage?" And he finally responded, but said he couldn't report on me because he had a directive that he could only report on things that didn't have any prior or pre-ex…

If simply saying "Hi, would you be interested in covering this?" characterizes me as an annoying hustler then you know what I'll take it.