Journalist Ashley Abramson investigated Sophie Cress, a fictitious expert created by the owner of a sex toy review site. Cress claimed qualifications in psychology and therapy to serve as an expert source for stories, leading numerous journalists to unwittingly promote her. Abramson uncovered that Cress did not exist, her supposed headshot was a stock image, and tracking Cress’ credentials revealed none were legitimate. This incident underscores the emerging trend of deceptive internet personas and illustrates the challenge of discerning authenticity in the era of AI-generated content.
Most journalists contacted by Cress simply took her at face value, allowing her operators to dupe outlets from the Metro to the Daily Mail.
Of course, anyone could always claim to be anyone, and AI programs make it easy to generate a chunk of text that seems, at least at first skim, like it was written by an expert.
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