Rob Waugh

'The cockwomble of all journalists' - a reader. Book on robots and AI out this year.

[Kyle 🚄 @KyleTrainEmoji]

PICARD: Data, shields up

DATA: Brilliant! Shields can reduce damage we sustain. Not immunity. Not hubris. Just prudence. It's not precaution—it's strategy.

[camera shakes]

WORF: HULL BREACHES ON NINE DECKS

DATA: Here's what happened: you told me to raise shields, and I didn't

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

@_neilarmstrong @DailyMail Ha ha I accept your salute! Hope you’re good!

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

Four prolific finance journalists have landed 1,000 pieces in top titles from Forbes to the Times of Israel - but there's one tiny problem: it seems very likely that none of them actually exist... https://t.co/NCVqOfUb6z

[John Carreyrou @JohnCarreyrou]

The mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, has remained unsolved for 17 years. Not anymore. Read my 18-month investigation to find out who Satoshi really is. https://t.co/fPtaK6YHJC

[Mediagazer @mediagazer]

A look at Clickout, which has bought hundreds of websites to harvest their reputations and pack them with casino links; in 2024, it had £40M in revenue (@robwaugh74 / Press Gazette)

https://t.co/FHQaflwMGF
https://t.co/61GoxoeNm3

[Ivan Burazin @ivanburazin]

Voice messages should die.

I hate everyone who sends them. When someone sends me a voice note, I don't look at it for days.

It's the most selfish form of communication. You're offloading your typing time onto my listening time.

You get convenience and I get locked into your pace. Can neither skim thru nor reference them later.

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

I'm a die-hard gamer (still a helpless slave to Diablo IV even in my advancing years) so it's tragic to see sites with so much heritage turned into AI slop fountains

[Gisele Navarro @ichbinGisele]

"A network of prominent gaming sites has fired multiple human staff in recent days and misleadingly replaced them with AI writers, complete with fake pics and biogs." ~ @RobWaugh74

🔗 https://t.co/d4jQ4QE7O4

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

@Dom_Sacco @pressgazette It’s everywhere! Regrettably

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

How many fake experts have slimed their way into the British media? Press Gazette's latest finds that one in ten expert-led articles includes out-and-out fake experts - including 'Jessie' on the right here, whose creators spilled the beans on WHY they made her with AI

https://t.co/eoOZbpad0Z

[Tal Shmuel Harel @TalHarelTal]

The "Faces of Fakery" report is a terrifying look at how broken media's vetting process has become.

I just finished the @pressgazette investigation into AI-generated experts, and it’s honestly depressing.

For those who haven't seen it, they found hundreds of articles in major UK outlets (The Times, Daily Mail, etc.) quoting "experts" that simply don’t exist.

Using AI-generated headshots, fake LinkedIn profiles, and "experience" manufactured by rogue PR firms just to land SEO backlinks.

Everyone talked about AI replacing journalists, but this is arguably worse: AI is polluting the record, and we are letting it happen because outlets are too understaffed or rushed to do a basic 30-second background check on a source.

If we don’t fix our filters, it's not only about journalists losing their jobs, it's about losing our grip on reality.

Incredible work by @DomPonsford and @RobWaugh74 on this.

[Mediagazer @mediagazer]

An investigation finds 50+ apparently fake experts who offered commentary to the UK press in recent years, getting featured 1,000+ times in various articles (@robwaugh74 / Press Gazette)

https://t.co/wa8mzf5p7q
https://t.co/66G61t3spd

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

@EddieHenryJames Ha ha brilliant!

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

@tash_wynarczyk A lot of truth in that yep!

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

@AliJaneMoore Yeh I agree. There's a lot of the pest control MyJobQuote ones where it was blatantly obvious the story was utter horseshit and someone along the chain of command at the publisher must surely have realised that?

[NeoMam Studios @neomammalian]

Research from @pressgazette and NeoMam Studios has uncovered over 600 instances of dubious experts gaining coverage at some of the biggest UK national publications.

Quoted experts do not appear to be real and some have AI-generated profile pictures: https://t.co/Aiq00OjAmZ

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

Press Gazette has uncovered more than 600 stories featuring fake experts in the British media, including titles like the BBC and the Guardian - AI-generated images, AI-generated quotes, experts who do not exist spouting false and sometimes dangerous advice

https://t.co/Zd5qOLBEhZ

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

I will believe it when I see it!

[Mediagazer @mediagazer]

Google says it is working on a fix to combat the rise of spam sites in its Discover feed in the UK as fake AI-generated news stories gain visibility in the feed (@robwaugh74 / Press Gazette)

https://t.co/xr0Vp8n4Le
https://t.co/wixMe8fCBD

[Rachel Blundy @rachelblundy]

Royal cleaner stories removed by The Times and The Sun after authenticity questions.

Similar stories remain on the websites for the Daily Mirror and the MailOnline.

https://t.co/QaRe1wbmjb by @RobWaugh74 for @pressgazette

[Rob Waugh @RobWaugh74]

@DanKaszeta 10 years on! Hilarious @DanKaszeta