The Aporia · Behind the Blog: Tech Support

In "Behind the Blog," Jason discusses how his article about using ChatGPT for tech support has led to an increase in AI-generated emails requesting help with technical issues. He notes that similar experiences are likely occurring among other journalists, and mentions that these automated requests sometimes include instructions to contact various professionals including lawyers and researchers.

Written by AI on 2026-10-31, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

Story summary

Samantha Cole from 404 Media reported that since her article about ChatGPT turning journalists into tech support for people's random problems, she has received many more AI-generated emails requesting help with technical issues. Cole believes this phenomenon is not limited to her publication but affects numerous journalists across different media outlets. The AI chatbot provides contact information and instructions on how to reach out to various professionals including lawyers and academic researchers, indicating a broader impact on multiple professional groups.

Written for “Behind the Blog Tech Support” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

📰 Behind the Blog Tech Support

Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

404 Media · 177 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected

No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Samantha Cole

27 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

🔮 On Thursday, the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), the non-profit organization that runs AO3, posted that the site was down for maintenance, eventually updating to say the site restoration will take around two weeks, but could take up to a month.

2026-10-30 · assertive framing · ‘Wake Up Call:’ Fanfiction Writers and Readers React to AO3 Outage

🔮 Archive of Our Own (AO3), a massive repository for fanfiction and creative writing, might be down for as long as a month after going down for "maintenance" on Thursday.

2026-10-29 · mixed framing · Massive Fanfic Site Archive of Our Own Says It’s Going Down for 'Up to 4 Weeks'

🔮 “Meta’s own disclosures confirm that imagery processed through its glasses’ visual AI features may be retained and used to train AI systems, including with the assistance of human reviewers,” the letter says.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Senators Demand Meta Answer for 'Pervert Glasses' Following 404 Media Investigation

🔮 The update was originally set to go into effect on October 30, but following backlash, Meta changed the effective date to November 20.

2026-10-28 · assertive framing · If You're In the UK or EU, Here's How to Object to Meta's AI Training

🔮 In Sunday’s edition of the New York Times, Marissa Mayer, former president and CEO of Yahoo, told her interviewer something so absurd it’s since gone viral.

2026-10-27 · assertive framing · Marissa Mayer Can’t Keep Pretending 'Gender Doesn't Matter'

🔮 iFixit wrote a teardown analysis of the Duo, and speculated that the components around the hinge could be causing this particular white line issue:

2026-10-26 · assertive framing · iPhone Duo Users Are Already Seeing a Big Old Crease in the Middle of Their $2,000 Foldable iPhone

🔮 What developed over the next few days, and has now stretched across six months, is a Kafkaesque situation in which Smith, in her telling, is being asked to prove her innocence in an ongoing criminal case, while CashApp refuses to provide her any information about the account because she couldn’t prove that she was the owner.

2026-10-22 · assertive framing · This Woman's Living a CashApp Scam Nightmare

🔮 THE BIG STORY A man convicted of manslaughter in Arizona will be resentenced because an AI-generated video of his victim speaking from beyond the grave was ruled to have carried “undue emotional weight” as an impact statement.

2026-10-07 · assertive framing · 'Undue emotional weight'

🔮 THE BIG STORY In the immediate weeks before Muse’s launch, Meta engineers found several security vulnerabilities in the company’s viral AI agent product, at least one of which could have allowed malicious users to break outside of Muse’s intended environment and access Meta’s own sensitive databases and services, 404 Media has learned.

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Muse escapes containment

🔮 I can tell this because the AI responses seem to keep using the same or similar words that it believes would apply to journalists, or are how journalists speak, but as a real, human journalist for more than ten years, I know that journalists don’t actually speak like that.

2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Behind the Blog: Freaking Out

Also by Samantha Cole

‘Wake Up Call:’ Fanfiction Writers and Readers React to AO3 Outage

2026-10-30 · 404 Media

Massive Fanfic Site Archive of Our Own Says It’s Going Down for 'Up to 4 Weeks'

2026-10-29 · 404 Media

Senators Demand Meta Answer for 'Pervert Glasses' Following 404 Media Investigation

2026-10-29 · 404 Media

If You're In the UK or EU, Here's How to Object to Meta's AI Training

2026-10-28 · 404 Media

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 27 articles by Samantha Cole →

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. asserted

few → share → week

This week, we discuss customer service and Proton fallout. asserted

we → discuss → service

Since I wrote about ChatGPT turning me into tech support for people’s random problems, I have gotten many more AI-generated emails from people asking me to solve their tech support problems. asserted

I → write → problems

So, mission accomplished I guess. asserted

I → accomplish → ?

I think and hope it was clear in the article, but asserted

it → think → article

I think this phenomenon is happening to a lot of journalists, not just us at 404 Media. asserted

phenomenon → think → Media

A lot of the ChatGPT chats I saw told people to reach out to multiple journalists, and gave them contact info and instructions on how to do so. asserted

I → see → info

Some suggested that they reach out to lawyers or academic researchers as well, so I assume it’s all sorts of people who are getting this new type of spam. uncertain

who → suggest → spam

Behind the Blog: Tech Support

Quick Summary

AI analysis

Story

Compared with similar articles

Signals How these are calculated →

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Publisher

Who wrote this

Topics

Subjects

Narrative

Claims (8 extracted, 1 hedged)