ChatGPT tells people with tech problems to email 404 Media
Original title: ChatGPT Says 404 Media Is Tech Support for Huge Corporations
Users say the chatbot drafted pitches about Instagram bans, Verizon outages, and even OpenAI support complaints.
404 Media says its inboxes have filled with people asking reporters to investigate ordinary tech-support problems after ChatGPT recommended the outlet. Examples include a banned Instagram account, a Meta business-account dispute, a Verizon iPhone stuck on SOS, and a complaint about an unreliable custom ChatGPT assistant. Recipients who replied said a chatbot suggested the contact and, in several cases, wrote the email. The outlet says some AI-written tips may be newsworthy, but it cannot restore consumer accounts.
Unconfirmed: The pattern is 404 Media’s account, based on emails and a handful of shared ChatGPT transcripts.
- One shared chat, in Russian, named jason@404media.co and drafted the English email.
- An Italian painter said ChatGPT suggested contact over Meta account suspensions.
- A Verizon complaint was also sent to several other US newsrooms.
- One tip about a custom assistant called Captain NORBERTA included three PDFs.
- 404 Media says it has received dozens of clearly AI-generated leads over recent months.
From the original article
7 min read at 404media.co
Over the last few weeks our inboxes have gotten ridiculous as ChatGPT has begun recommending that people who have tech support issues with various products and tech services turn their problems into massive journalistic investigations. Pretty wild! To reiterate: We love getting story tips but we cannot help restore your Verizon service.
By Jason Koebler · 404media.co
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