G/O Media's bot-written debut got Star Wars facts wrong; union urged a boycott

In early July 2023, G/O Media — owner of The AV Club, Gizmodo, The Onion, Deadspin and Jezebel — told staff that AI-generated articles were just around the corner. Editorial director Merrill Brown called AI initiatives 'utterly appropriate — and in fact our responsibility' for 'a leading technology company'. Within days, articles credited to the outlets' respective bots appeared on Gizmodo and The AV Club.

The debut went wrong immediately. Gizmodo's bot story, 'A Chronological List of Star Wars Movies & TV Shows', contained factual errors about the franchise's in-universe chronology that fans flagged at once; io9 deputy editor James Whitbrook said he was unaware it would publish until shortly before, and that 'no one at io9 played a part in its editing or publication' — the story's link later returned an error. Over at The AV Club, the bot-produced 'The Biggest Summer Blockbusters of 2003: 10 Can't-Miss Movies' contained almost no writing or analysis and was syndicated to Yahoo Entertainment.

G/O Media did not answer The Verge's questions about how the pieces were assigned, generated or edited. The Gizmodo union urged readers not to click any bot-credited article, calling the rollout 'unethical and unacceptable' — part of an industry pattern in which AI output at CNET and Men's Journal had already required post-publication corrections while staff faced layoffs.

Gizmodo's first bot story carried factual errors and was unpublished; io9 editors said they never saw it before it ran

Bot copy went live without review by the sites' own editorial staff, so franchise-lore errors shipped under the masthead.

The AV Club piece was built to attract cheap search traffic rather than reader value.

Staff learned of the initiative from a leadership email — no editing or assignment pipeline existed on day one.

The rollout ignored visible failures at CNET and Men's Journal, where AI stories needed correction.

Publishing unedited machine copy under your masthead bets the brand's accuracy on a demo — and staff revolt is the demo's first bug report.

Gizmodo's error-ridden debut story was taken down, its link returning an error message. The Gizmodo union's click boycott stood, and G/O Media did not respond to questions about editorial oversight of AI-written stories.