NFL says new “Move the Sticks” podcast was not AI-generated or hosted

The NFL found itself in the middle of a bizarre AI controversy on Wednesday, given the suspicions that new content posted on the Move The Sticks podcast feed seemed to be machine-generated.

Although the league had not initially responded to an inquiry from Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports regarding the question of whether the episode consisted of a human voice or an artificial one, the NFL issued a statement after the article was initially posted.

“NFL Media is in the process of re-branding Move the Sticks and revamping its content plan following the acquisition of NFL Network by ESPN,” the league said. “The episode posted on 8/11 was a compilation of team previews from the NFL’s YouTube page and not AI generated/hosted.”

AI or not, the new content does not identify the host, whose voice is frankly not familiar nor easily recognizable. And it consists of a very bland and bare-bones recitation of the moves made by various teams, interspersed with audio from other sources — mainly press conferences and games.

So even if it’s not AI, it doesn’t sound much better (frankly) than something that was AI generated. And it falls far short of the standard that should be implied regarding any product that carries the imprimatur of The Shield.