Apparent AI travel article calls Ottawa food bank a "beautiful attraction"
A recently published travel article about places to visit in Ottawa has left many readers confused after it mentioned one place to visit that isn’t a tourist attraction at all.
The article titled “Headed to Ottawa? Here’s what you shouldn’t miss!” was published earlier this week on Microsoft Travel’s website. The author of the article was listed as “Microsoft Travel.”
The piece has since been removed from Microsoft’s site but can still be read here.
The article lists a number of tourist attractions and landmarks in the city, including the Rideau Canal, Nepean Point and The Alexandra Bridge, and Parliament Hill.
But there’s one place mentioned on the list that didn’t make any sense: the Ottawa Food Bank.
The food bank was ranked third on the list, and the article’s description of encouraging tourists to visit the organization is just as bizarre as it is inappropriate.
Microsoft/Screenshot
Microsoft/Screenshot
“The organization has been collecting, purchasing, producing, and delivering food to needy people and families in the Ottawa area since 1984. We observe how hunger impacts men, women, and children daily and how it may be a barrier to achievement. People who come to us have jobs and families to support and expenses to pay. Life is already difficult enough. Consider going into it on an empty stomach,” states the article.
This had many online questioning if the article was written by a real person, with some noting that the story could have been generated by AI.
AI wrote a travel story about Ottawa
It suggested visiting the Ottawa Food Bank as a tourist attraction: "Consider going into it on an empty stomach."https://t.co/8lBEsrbNCt
— Tracey Lindeman š« š©ø (@traceylindeman) August 17, 2023
Microsoft's AI recommends visiting Ottawa Food Bank – "Consider going into it on an empty stomach."
Clearly lacks context. #AI https://t.co/OvMokG7EoN— Steve Voller š¶ (@SteveVoller1) August 17, 2023
Microsoft replaced dozens of journalists at MSN with AI more than 3 years ago. That AI is now recommending the Ottawa Food Bank as a tourist destination, saying you should āconsider going into it on an empty stomach.ā š¬ https://t.co/553ghkVjpY pic.twitter.com/q3bwSH1YzY
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 17, 2023
Microsoft using AI to generate some travel classics like this piece on #Ottawa.
It highly recommends the Ottawa Food Bank and provides some indelible words of wisdom: āConsider going into it on an empty stomach.ā #YOW #cdnpolihttps://t.co/RL9EjKCqZ5
— Avi (@Rantaramic) August 17, 2023
Benj Edwards, a writer for tech and news website Ars Technica, noted that the last line of the description –“Consider going into it on an empty stomach” — is a clear example of AI language because “the AI model behind the article cannot understand the context of what it is doing.”
Others were quick to notice another error in the article regarding a well-known Ottawa landmark.
“I havenāt been to Omega Park since I was much younger, but Iām pretty sure this is not it,” said one Twitter user, with a screen cap of the article depicting the Rideau Canal instead of Omega Park.
I havenāt been to Omega Park since I was much younger, but Iām pretty sure this is not it pic.twitter.com/w9IPqrgouj
ā Lightly (@lightlysaltd) August 17, 2023
In a statement to Daily Hive, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the article has since been removed and is “investigating how it made it through our review process.”
Microsoft did not respond to Daily Hive’s question asking if the article was generated by an AI tool.