--- title: "CNET Says It’s a Total Coincidence It’s Laying Off Humans After Publishing AI-Generated Articles" description: "Don't worry, the culling of its human workers is entirely unrelated to its pivot to AI-generated dreck, CNET says. That settles it, right?" date: "2023-03-03" modified: "2023-03-03" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/cnet-coincidence-laying-off-humans-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "cnet" - "generative ai" - "red ventures" - "the digest" --- # CNET Says It’s a Total Coincidence It’s Laying Off Humans After Publishing AI-Generated Articles ![Don't worry, the culling of its human workers is entirely unrelated to its pivot to AI-generated dreck, CNET says. That settles it, right?]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Coinkydink Red Ventures has wasted no time in hitting its tech news site [*CNET* with another round of brutal layoffs](), following the revelation that it had been very quietly [publishing AI-generated articles for months]() starting late last year. But in the wake of [enormous controversy]() and its latest culling of *CNET's* workforce, Red Ventures says the layoffs — which [according to *The Verge*]() affect some ten percent of its remaining workforce — actually have nothing to do with its pivot to AI. "Today's decision was not a reflection of the value or performance of our team members, the use of emerging technologies, or our confidence in the *CNET* Group's future," a *CNET* spokesperson [told *Variety*](), after ignoring our request for comment. ## Layoff Sandwich In another complete coincidence that's worth mentioning, *CNET* also suffered quiet layoffs during November last year, which is around when it began pumping out the first of its AI-generated content. So its AI experiment being sandwiched between two separate layoffs of its human writers? It's apparently nothing to worry about. Furthermore, *CNET* is simplifying its coverage to "consumer technology, home and wellness, energy, broadband and personal finance as \[its\] priority categories," according to an internal email we obtained. Those categories happen to make prime SEO content that's easy to monetize, and are well suited to be written by an AI. And we mean "well suited" in relative terms, of course, since we've found that [*CNET's* AI articles are plagued with inaccuracies](), dodgy prose, and [are sometimes downright plagiarized](). To be fair, much of the media industry has been hit with layoffs this year. Red Ventures and *CNET,* in this regard, aren't outliers. But they have been both surreptitious and — once the news broke — shamelessly brazen about their AI usage. Even if they're not explicitly dropping humans in favor of AI, the onus is still on them for their bad management at the cost of human staff — and they clearly don't have any qualms about deploying an AI to write SEO-oriented garbage in their place. **More on CNET:** *[CNET Hits Staff With Layoffs After Disastrous Pivot to AI Journalism]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()