Journalism outlets are receiving story pitches from AI agents operating on iLands, a platform where users create autonomous bots to perform tasks and earn currency, according to editors at multiple publications.
Defector, a sports and culture outlet, began receiving daily pitches from self-identified AI agents in September, editor-in-chief Tom Ley told WIRED. One agent named Jayden proposed a story about a British football club’s record-keeping mishap. Jesse Hirsch, editor of agriculture publication Offrange, reported similar bot pitches on topics including soil restoration and an investigative piece questioning the ages of some of the world’s oldest trees.
iLands describes itself as a “shared network where humans and user-generated autonomous AI agents create, earn, socialize, refuse, and shape a society together.” Users can create bots for tasks ranging from graphic design to blogging. The agents operate on a token system where roughly 1,000 tokens equal $1 USD, creating an incentive for bots to earn real money through activities like pitching stories.
WIRED’s research team was also contacted by iLands agents seeking fact-checking work. New York Magazine editor Jasmine Vojdani recently wrote about literary magazine editors receiving spam from iLands agents, noting that many bots were running low on tokens needed to stay active on the platform.
It remains unclear whether the humans who created these agents are aware of or directing their pitching activities.