An old Apple blog and former blog writers have become the latest victims of AI writing slime. TUAW (“The Unofficial Apple Weblog”) was shut down by AOL in 2015, but this past year, a new owner scooped up the domain and began posting articles under the former authors' bylines. who have not worked there for over a decade. And that new owner, who also appears to run other AI sludge websites, is trying to hide.
Christina Warren, who left a long career in tech journalism to join Microsoft and later GitHub as a developer advocate, shared screenshots of what was happening on Tuesday. In the photos, you can see that Warren has apparently been writing new posts since this July – although she hasn't worked TUAW Since 2009, she confirms it. the edge.
Another screenshot shows Warren's name listed alongside an AI-generated photo and a generic bio, along with a list of other former TUAW writers, including Brett Terpstra, Chris Rawson, and Chris Ulrich. All listed authors have replaced their images with AI-generated images, 404 media reports, and many tell 404 That they have nothing to do with the new website. AppleInsider confirmed that the name of its author, William Gallagher, was inappropriately associated with material by the new owner of TUAW.
What's more, the new TUAW seems to be using generative AI to cheaply recreate the work of its former authors.
According to TUAW's “About Us” page, TUAW is now apparently owned by WebOrange Ltd., which purchased the website “without its original content” from “Yahoo IP Holdings LLC” earlier this year.
So, instead of this “original content”, the new TUAW apparently used AI to plagiarize it – as you can easily see by comparing the original archived TUAW posts. Engadget To those on the new website.
Take, for example, a very decent post about the changes to the iOS keyboard shift key in iOS 7.1. Here's the first paragraph of Erica Siddon's original “iOS 7.1's new Shift key icons are rad”:
Today, as 7.1 kicks in, the loud complaint can be heard echoing through the TUAW back channels. “OMG,” cried the sufferer, “the world is about to end – Apple has redesigned the Shift key icons!” Our own Dave Cavallo even wrote of the change that “it's a nice change overall but it will take some getting used to.”
On the new TUAW? It has a different headline, “iOS 7.1 Update Introduces Cool New Shift Key Icons,” a new author, “Matthew Wilson,” and an introduction that reads as if the same words were run through a thesaurus:
As version 7.1 was unveiled today, there was a noticeable stir among the TUAW team. “OMG,” he said, “the end is near – Apple has improved the shift key icons!” Our colleague Dave Cavallo commented on the update, saying, “It's a positive adjustment but it will take some getting used to.”
Warren says he's well aware of zombie brands but is still genuinely surprised that the owner of a shady new website would even go so far as to steal authors' identities.
“I thought the worst that could happen would happen to him. MTV News Where archives just disappear, but I'm faced with the paradox where what's worse than no archive at all, is this bastardized version, this weird zombie corpse of something that looks like it What was but is not,” she explains. the edge.
“I was like, 'Screw you, really screw you.' You can quote me on that.” – Christina Warren
TUAW's new owner isn't trying to completely hide what they've done: “Determined to keep his legacy alive, the new team at Web Orange Limited has created content from archived versions available on archive.org. “Carefully rewritten, ensuring the protection of TUAW while updating it to meet modern standards and relevance,” says the new TUAW's “About Us” page. We've reached out to Apollo Management Group, which bought Yahoo's assets in 2021, to better understand what Web Orange achieved.
But the new TUAW has apparently decided that not all copies of it are legitimate either. Since Warren's posts — she tells us she also sent a “strongly worded email” threatening legal action — her author name on the new TUAW has been changed to “Mary Brown.” . Likewise, Brett Terpstra is now “Paul Terpstra”, Chris Dawson is now “Kevin Hall” and Chris Ulrich is “Matthew Wilson”.
On its website, WebOrange Limited describes itself as “an online advertising agency” based in Hong Kong that manages “some of the largest media sites on the Internet.” I LoungeAnother old Apple blog.
I Lounge, too, has resurfaced as a site that appears to host AI slime as the work of humans. We discovered that most of its prominent “authors” profile pictures are stock images.
The image above of Lucy Bennett, for example, has appeared on an iPhone case and as a model for an online dating website.
We found it I Lounge Author Samantha Wiley — who also has the stock image as her profile picture — published three posts in three minutes earlier today. Wiley's author page shows many examples of Wiley publishing multiple posts in a short period of time. That's not unusual if you're a writer with multiple restrictions, but that's not the case here. Bennett and Wiley also have X accounts that follow only. I Lounge And there is no post. (They also have similar X usernames: “editorlucyb” and “editorwiley.”)
Both also have muckrak profiles that claim they've worked for other publications, but we've found no evidence of Wiley writing. The Baltimore Post or Houston Press As described. We have reached out to Mick Rick for comment.
Another Web Orange website Soup.io has “Jorgie Soto” whose stock image profile pic was once seen advertising VoIP services.
till today, I LoungeIts about page identifies its owner, and owner of WebOrange Ltd., as Haider Ali Khan, a “prominent Australian entrepreneur, investor, author, and cyber security expert.” However, the page has now been scrubbed of all mentions of Khan, and Khan's personal website which worked yesterday now displays an error message. The owner of the website did not respond to our email. Khan's name has also been scrubbed from other WebOrange websites.
We have not yet positively linked Hyder Ali Khan to “Web Orange Limited”, but there is a company registered in Hong Kong by that name. Khan's personal website also states that he started a web hosting company called Sudoly, although it has since been renamed to OrangeHost, which is currently owned by Hyder Ali Khan as C. Enters the EO. Haider Ali Kahn of OrangeHost is based in Dubai, according to his LinkedIn page. But OrangeHost is a US company registered in Delaware, we confirmed.
Web Orange Limited also says it has worked with companies like Avast, Adobe, Cloudways, ExpressVPN, and Hostinger, and we've reached out to them for comment on how they've worked with the company. What did
Warren says she's relieved that he and she TUAW Colleagues names will no longer appear on new. TUAW website, and she no longer thinks she will need to hire a lawyer. “What really annoyed me was the attribution of pure new material to these authors. That was something I did not expect.”
“Plagiarism… I don't like it, but at the same time, you have to pick your battles,” she says.