What's going on here?
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UPDATE: They pulled the story, but I had it up and had SingleFile in my browser, so: https://mttaggart.neocities.org/ars-whoopsie
@mttaggart I happened to be reading in the comment section before the article got pulled.
Here is Aurich's last post saying the article was pulled and they're going to be investigating, but there probably won't be any answers until Monday and they'll update readers then. -
@mttaggart So it was a double slop article? -_-
@catsalad Slop on slop on slop. Literally.
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UPDATE: They pulled the story, but I had it up and had SingleFile in my browser, so: https://mttaggart.neocities.org/ars-whoopsie
@mttaggart Oh, I wish you'd gotten the comments too. I can only imagine what some familiar handles would have had to say in them.
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@mttaggart Oh, I wish you'd gotten the comments too. I can only imagine what some familiar handles would have had to say in them.
@theotherbrook Someone else in these replies did!
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What's going on here? The matplotlib maintainer this story is about correctly notes that all the quotes from his post in the article are made up.
@mttaggart wow they pulled the article down
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@mttaggart I got the comments though.
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@mttaggart jfc. As an Ars subscriber, I am furious
@jalefkowit @mttaggart Big same. Decades now.
They need to respond fast or I'm out.
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@jalefkowit @mttaggart Big same. Decades now.
They need to respond fast or I'm out.
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@hackillu @mttaggart You got the comments online anywhere? I am dying to see them.
@theotherbrook @mttaggart I just have a text file.
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@theotherbrook @mttaggart I just have a text file.
@theotherbrook @mttaggart the site wouldn't download, so i did copy paste
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@theotherbrook @mttaggart the site wouldn't download, so i did copy paste
@hackillu @mttaggart There's now a thread on the open forum.
EDIT: Oh, but it's been locked. I've bumped heads with Aurich about some stuff but I do trust him to be pretty open when they are ready to talk about it.
https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards.1511650/
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What's going on here? The matplotlib maintainer this story is about correctly notes that all the quotes from his post in the article are made up.
@mttaggart so, ars technica is now merely slop as well?
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This scoop brought to you by the TTI Intel Feed, which also routinely beats commercial threat intel to the punch on important emerging threats.
Putting this here so all can see it. Ars forum thread where the pull and investigation are mentioned: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards.1511650/
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@mttaggart Oh, I wish you'd gotten the comments too. I can only imagine what some familiar handles would have had to say in them.
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Putting this here so all can see it. Ars forum thread where the pull and investigation are mentioned: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards.1511650/
Aaand the full comments thread from the original story: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/after-a-routine-code-rejection-an-ai-agent-published-a-hit-piece-on-someone-by-name.1511649/
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Putting this here so all can see it. Ars forum thread where the pull and investigation are mentioned: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards.1511650/
@mttaggart Locking the comments seems pretty... bad? I mean, one of their authors generated slop, and one of their editors approved slop. Is it more complicated or...? (I'm being a little flippant, but this is a terrible look for Ars already.)
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@mttaggart Locking the comments seems pretty... bad? I mean, one of their authors generated slop, and one of their editors approved slop. Is it more complicated or...? (I'm being a little flippant, but this is a terrible look for Ars already.)
@theorangetheme I think the lock might be SOP for a pulled story. And mods tend not to like rampant speculation.
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What's going on here? The matplotlib maintainer this story is about correctly notes that all the quotes from his post in the article are made up.
AI isn't intended to be accurate, useful, or productive.
It's just automated information pollution like Steve Bannon's version of Russian "flood the zone with sh*t" disinformation.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/12/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump-russia-emails-00648919https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article312917423.html
https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/in-putins-orbit-the-crypto-politics
Look at the investors behind AI.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE
They don't have to fly planes into buildings anymore to destroy democracy & fry the planet.https://breakingdefense.com/2026/02/future-of-military-ai-in-saudi-arabia-ai-enhanced-or-ai-native/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/saudi-arabia-ai-exporter.html
1/
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AI isn't intended to be accurate, useful, or productive.
It's just automated information pollution like Steve Bannon's version of Russian "flood the zone with sh*t" disinformation.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/12/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump-russia-emails-00648919https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article312917423.html
https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/in-putins-orbit-the-crypto-politics
Look at the investors behind AI.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE
They don't have to fly planes into buildings anymore to destroy democracy & fry the planet.https://breakingdefense.com/2026/02/future-of-military-ai-in-saudi-arabia-ai-enhanced-or-ai-native/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/saudi-arabia-ai-exporter.html
1/
2/
Russia & Putin
Putin deluded himself that AI-enabled warfare will solve his manpower problems & population bottlenecks. 1.3 million dead soldiers so far in Ukraine.
https://www.neimagazine.com/news/putin-links-nuclear-buildout-to-russias-ai-ambitions/
