An allegedly AI-generated travel guide posted by MSN.com’s Microsoft Travel section has come under fire for listing a food bank among Ottawa’s “cannot miss” attractions.
The article dedicated to the Canadian city was published late last week and has since been removed, though an archived version of the piece remains available online.
“Headed to Ottawa? Here’s what you shouldn’t miss!” included the Ottawa Food Bank, a charitable organization dedicated to feeding families who are financially struggling, in its list of must-visit spots in the city.
While Microsoft has not confirmed that the article was AI-written and nothing on the piece signaled that it was, several news sites, including Insider and Ars Technica, have reported that the content was likely the product of a large language model (LLM) type of AI model.
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“In Ottawa you will find some beautiful attractions that you just cannot miss! Places like The Winterlude Festival, National War Memorial, and Ottawa Food Bank and many more,” the article read.
The list featured 15 attractions in Ottawa, of which the food bank was number three. The article then appears to offer a description of the food bank taken directly from the organization’s website, saying that Ottawa Food Bank “has been collecting, purchasing, producing, and delivering food to needy people and families in the Ottawa area since 1984.”
It continued: “We observe how hunger impacts men, women, and children on a daily basis, and how it may be a barrier to achievement. People who come to us have jobs and families to support, as well as expenses to pay. Life is already difficult enough.”
The description of the food bank was capped with the recommendation: “Consider going into it on an empty stomach.” The phrase appears to have been twisted from the Ottawa Food Bank’s website, which says: “Life is challenging enough. Imagine facing it on an empty stomach.”
Newsweek reached out to Microsoft’s media team via email for comment on Friday.
Microsoft is really hitting it out of the park with its AI-generated travel stories! If you visit Ottawa, it highly recommends the Ottawa Food Bank and provides a great tip for tourists: “Consider going into it on an empty stomach.” https://t.co/7bvGemDad2
— Paris Marx (@parismarx) August 17, 2023
The article was first noticed by tech author Paris Marx, who posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Microsoft is really hitting it out of the park with its AI-generated travel stories! If you visit Ottawa, it highly recommends the Ottawa Food Bank and provides a great tip for tourists: ‘Consider going into it on an empty stomach.'”
The post gathered the attention of thousands of people, many of whom commented with scathing remarks about the piece and Microsoft.
“Tech companies really going for that whole ‘the lights are on but nobody’s home’ vibe,” one X user posted. “It’s the future capitalism promised us,” wrote another.
In 2020, Microsoft News and MSN laid off dozens of journalists and editorial workers to replace them with bots, The Verge reported at the time. The layoffs, which corresponded to a bigger trend sweeping the entire tech industry, affected about 50 jobs in the United States, according to Business Insider, and 27 in the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported.
Microsoft has since taken the travel guide down and said is looking into how it went online in the first place.
Responding to a request for comment from The Verge, Jeff Jones, a senior director at Microsoft, said in a statement: “This article has been removed and we are investigating how it made it through our review process.”