Mia Sato

Features Writer, The Verge

Mia SatoAug 28, 2023

Gannett is pausing use of an AI sports bot after criticism.

Last week, readers noticed the generative AI tool kept describing local sporting events as “close encounter[s] of the athletic kind.” Articles with that phrasing have popped up on The Columbus Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star, among others. Some stories were also missing key information.

It’s not the first botched AI initiative: other outlets have had to make corrections, overhaul policies, and defend the use of AI tools after readers noticed errors.

Columbus Dispatch pauses AI sports writing tool following viral story

[Axios Columbus]

Can news outlets build a ‘trustworthy’ AI chatbot?

Mia SatoAug 25, 2023

Shein beat out its competitors — soon it could sell Forever 21 clothes

Mia SatoAug 24, 2023

Ads are coming to TikTok search results

Mia SatoAug 22, 2023

Stitching together an archive of an endangered Palestinian art

Palestinian embroidery is a centuries-old tradition. Can digitizing hard-to-access patterns help preserve it for a new generation?

Mia SatoAug 21, 2023

Mia SatoAug 17, 2023

Lost in the girlouboros.

Women have a lot of things to do these days — we go on hot girl walks in our tomato girl dresses; prepare our girl dinners in our clean girl apartments. And of course, be a vessel for mass marketing campaigns.

As Vox’s Rebecca Jennings points out, these “trends” are just repackaged normal things we do (walk, eat, tidy our homes). But tack “girl” on to something and it creates the potential for virality and money — a new generation of girlbossing.

“Girl” trends and the repackaging of womanhood

[Vox]

Mia SatoAug 16, 2023

The word you’re looking for is “marketer.”

“MovieTok” TikTok creators are in The New York Times letting everyone know they are not critics — as if that wasn’t already very clear.

Unsurprisingly, the line between a promotional post and an honest review is nearly nonexistent. Some make sponcon for studios or accept gifts; others avoid saying anything too mean:

Cruz, 34, echoed other MovieTok reviewers who said they dislike doing sharply negative posts and would be unlikely to slam a movie whether they were in business with the studio or not. She said she generally prefers to deliver negative opinions in the form of a “compliment sandwich,” preceded and followed by more positive remarks.

Perhaps this is why studios are hitting up influencers during the Hollywood strikes?

They Review Movies on TikTok, but Don’t Call Them Critics

[The New York Times]