Ohio Newspaper Pauses AI Bot Sports Writing Program After The Damn Things Butcher Game Recaps

The future is not now at the Columbus (OH) Dispatch newspaper where AI bots were deployed -- without success -- to take its prep sports reporting to a whole new level where humans had never gone before.

After a string of experimental, and dreadful, game recaps built by AI bots via box scores, Axios Columbus reports that the Gannett-owned Dispatch has paused the use of its artificial intelligence program called LedeAI.

If you ever wondered what it would look like for bots to take over high school football reporting duties, let's just say it's a total mess and someone inside the corporation thought nothing of pumping out this stupidity to the Google algorithm as a way to gain a few clicks from the people searching for a game recap.

Focus on the first two paragraphs from this August 18 LedeAI report:

In case you didn't catch it the first time, LedeAI gives you the score, and the incredible "a close encounter of the athletic kind" one-liner again in the second paragraph only to keep the party going with all the news fit to print on this football game.

Take it away, LedeAI.

"Westerville North opened with a 7-0 advantage over Westerville Central through the first quarter.

"The Warhawks trimmed the margin to make it 7-6 at halftime.

"Westerville North jumped to a 21-6 lead heading into the final quarter.

"The Warriors chalked up this decision in spite of the Warhawks' spirited fourth-quarter performance."

Hell yeah, LedeAI. You just guaranteed humans are replaced all across the United States with that report. Killed it.

Take it away, Gannett PR team.

"In addition to adding hundreds of reporting jobs across the country, we are experimenting with automation and AI to build tools for our journalists and add content for our readers," a corporate representative told Axios.

It's back to the drawing board for the bots.

For now, I'm told the Dispatch preps staff remains a two-reporter, one-editor department.