As AI becomes more and more prevalent in society, it’s also quietly infiltrating sports media.
In some situations, it’s not immediately obvious that content was generated by AI. In other situations, it is.
Via Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, the NFL is facing accusations of AI usage as to audio that has recently been added to the feed that previously served up episodes of the Move the Sticks podcast.
The show, which featured Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks, had been dark since June 4. New content recently emerged, in the form of previews of the NFC East and the NFC West.
Glasspiegel’s post includes a clip that was posted on Twitter by Arif Hasan. It sounds strange, with clunky narration interspersed with random sound from press conferences and games.
Said Jeremiah when asked about the situation on Twitter: “I no longer appear on that old feed. I’m launching a new pod in a new home in the very near future.”
NFL Media spokespersons did not respond to Glasspiegel’s request for comment.
Making the situation even more strange is that the episode includes a disclaimer that it was guaranteed to be hosted by a human.
UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET: After Glasspiegel’s article was published, the NFL provided a statement insisting that the podcasts were not AI-generated. Either way, the new episodes are not good.
