Is content in ME&W being written by AI?

[norm nortonParticipant @normnorton75434]

The latest ME&W copy, issue 4765 dated June 2025, has an odd article on page 31 describing ‘Three Giants of the Industrial Revolution’.

It is only one page in length, but the text for each of the three names reads strangely. The giveaway for me is the text describing a statue “..captures the three men in a moment of discussion, symbolising their collaboration and ingenuity.” People don’t write like that, but AI, when asked to describe an image, does.

It is only my appraisal that this is a piece of AI text. If it is I don’t like it being used, certainly not in ME&W.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Funny enough I was thinking the same about the boring article which like the previous ones in the series is so wordy you wonder it they used AI or similar to come up with the content or at least rewrite their basic text.

[norm norton]

On 21 May 2025 at 13:26 norm norton Said:

The latest ME&W copy, issue 4765 dated June 2025, has an odd article on page 31 describing ‘Three Giants of the Industrial Revolution’.

It is only one page in length, but the text for each of the three names reads strangely. The giveaway for me is the text describing a statue “..captures the three men in a moment of discussion, symbolising their collaboration and ingenuity.” People don’t write like that, but AI, when asked to describe an image, does.

It is only my appraisal that this is a piece of AI text. If it is I don’t like it being used, certainly not in ME&W.

Norm, for sure it’s written by AI. I knew that as soon as I saw the words you mentioned “symbolising their collaboration and ingenuity.” I read AI generated articles every day (Yes they are on a forum (not this one) and they do say that the articles are AI produced versions of news stories published elsewhere. So I know the style.

However, before posting the above and not wishing to be one one of the ‘shoot from the hip’  style poster I have come across on this forum who criticise articles (including mine) that they admit the haven’t even read, I decided to do some checking.

So I went to AI Detector https://www.scribbr.com/ai-detector/ and it returned the following:-

91% of text is likely AI
AI-generated 84%
AI-generated & AI-refined 7%
Human-written & AI-refined 0%
Human-written 9%

You can check it out yourself.

I too hate AI generated articles and am surprised that MEW magazine allow them to be published. The provider of the article will probably be paid £30 to £50 for that article, that took AI seconds to produce.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

For comparison … this is a little more dignified:

https://www.vads.ac.uk/digital/collection/PMSA/id/413/

MichaelG.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

A good reason for not allowing AI generated or even checked material in a publication is IP. Most, if not all, “free” and many paid for AI tools have terms and conditions that gives them almost unlimited rights to use the material. The publisher could find the article or parts of it online.

Robert.

[Andy StopfordParticipant @andystopford50521]

The lack of a byline raises suspicion.

[parovozParticipant @parovoz]

Have not read any of this issue yet so can’t directly comment on the particular article, but I do see AI content appearing a lot more. Not impressed… AI generated material is like chicken noodle soup, cheap and unsatisfying, it may be useful in certain applications, but when we are paying for a publication, no one wants to be insulted with algorithm generated padding. And besides, AI cant speak genuine gibberish, my main language 🙂

But joking apart, if MEW uses AI content, this will potentially alienate a good part of the readership.

I suppose the nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future will communicate that information to the relevant parties in spoken or written words…..

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Gosh, was that last paragraph AI generated?
I think it was said in another thread that the final layout (and editing?) was done in India.
My experience at work was that well educated people from that continent would often write technical documents with correct grammar but with more hyperbole and non-colloquial verbiage. I’m not sure if that was due to it being the norm in their mother-tongue or picked up at university from educators wishing to impress by using long  or specialist words etc.  (this being before AI being available).

[parovozParticipant @parovoz]

Nope, last paragraph was genuine gibberish –

“I suppose the nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future will communicate that information to the relevant parties in spoken or written words…..”

OR

I suppose time will tell….

 

 

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