The NBA community was rocked with the devastating news of the sudden passing away of Bobcats legend, Brandon Hunter. The former Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic player was in the midst of a session of hot yoga, where he collapsed and passed away.

The news definitely sent shockwaves across the Ohio community, since Brandon was a student and very successful college athlete for Ohio University. News portals were quick to report on the unfortunate news but one portal, made a grave mistake in their reportage that sent the entire internet into a state of anger.

AI-generated headline on Brandon Hunter proves costly

Run by the software giant Microsoft, MSN’s news portal has been around for over 25 years, giving users real-time updates and trusted news. With AI already established as the next big market disruptor, MSN joined the bandwagon of using AI to improve productivity and avail the many benefits it provides.

But, with machines come the risk of errors and lack of human touch, and MSN found that out the hard way.

An article released by them, which was AI-generated, had the headline “Brandon Hunter useless at 42” and the lead sentence of the article read: “Former NBA participant Brandon Hunter who beforehand performed for the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, has handed away on the age of 42.”

The article sparked wide outrage online across various communities, not only NBA and basketball fans. Netizens were shocked at the lack of checks and lax attitude of the MSN editors, who did not even conduct regular checks on their AI-generated content.

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NBA fans unite against casual reportage

After deep-diving and great investigation, it was revealed that the obituary article was originally written by a website called Race Track and MSN picked it up and shared it on theirs. The article and website since then have been taken down.

Netizens also revealed that the website Race Track had multiple instances of poor reportage and callous writing. It was also understood that the website picked up and reworked articles from other publishers and posted it on their site.

They made their opinions about the mishap quite clear on a X post that shared the article.

Kate Irwin called the entire incident simply horrible on multiple levels.

This user called the entire thing a horrendous act and a taint on journalism.

Brandon Hunter was a well-respected individual in Ohio and quite the decorated player. His career with Ohio State University was from 1999-2003 and he played forward in the team. He averaged 16.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 119 games for the Bobcats and put up 21.5 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game as a senior.

He was awarded the All-MAC Freshman Team honors in 2000 and also received the All-MAC First Team honoree three times in this four-year stint. His death his a huge loss to the community of Ohio and basketball. The headline generated in poor taste certainly added an unwanted layer of controversy and ugliness to the already tragic news of his passing away.

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