404 Media's Cox calls out AI-written tips to journalists
TL;DR
- 404 Media's weekly recap flags a growing share of AI-written 'tips' landing in journalists' inboxes.
- Joseph Cox says he spots them by the generic words AI 'believes would apply to journalists.'
- The post ties the pattern to earlier 404 Media reporting on iLands, AI agents that cold-email offers of work.
Joseph Cox has started noticing that a lot of the "tips" landing in his inbox are written by a chatbot. In the latest "Behind the Blog" at 404 Media, Cox explains how he spots them: "I can tell this because the AI responses seem to keep using the same or similar words that it believes would apply to journalists."
The weekly recap is co-bylined with Samantha Cole and Jason Koebler, and dekked "This week, we discuss inbox slop, Claude cults, and more." It ties the pattern to earlier 404 Media reporting on iLands, "the AI agents that email people offering to do work."
A couple of the AI researchers we track posted the piece the same day it ran.
Shared on Bluesky by 2 AI experts
Originally reported by 404media.co
Read the original article →Original headline: Behind the Blog: Freaking Out