Journalist Alarmed When He's Fired, But Company Keeps Posting AI Slop Under His Name

The article highlights how AI “slop” continued to appear under a journalist’s byline after he was fired, underscoring concerns over impersonation and editorial control. Ben Touati, a freelance writer at ClickOut Media’s German operation, was reportedly dismissed in early 2026, yet five articles still ran under his name days later. Touati, quoted by Press Gazette, said the pieces were “lazy” and not written by a real person. ClickOut said it uses AI-assisted content with human checks and is improving its AI agents, but did not directly address why it kept publishing under his identity. A later action under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation led to ClickOut removing his byline; the articles then appeared under another writer’s name. The case follows prior ClickOut controversies, including a fake AI journalist at Videogamer.