“we can also expect more and circles of fake web sites in order to sell advertisements”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
ChatGPT will lead to more circles of fake websites created to sell advertising.
Assessment: Supported Settled before its deadline on 2026-10-29 Evidence as of
Where and when Gary Marcus wrote it
Marcus on AI, AGI will not happen in your lifetime. Or will it?, paragraph 54.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment marcus-agi-will-not-happen-in-your-lifetime-6ae4f4-a1
We recorded 28 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-29. The source may have been edited after 2023-01-22. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Forecast
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- Settled before its deadline
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- Settled before its deadline (the release’s reference date)
From the speaker
- we can also expect more
- circles of fake web sites
- in order to sell advertisements
- it (ChatGPT)
Our interpretation
- Read as: after the post, ChatGPT or similar chatbots would be used to produce growing numbers of fake or low-quality websites, often in networks, that exist to earn advertising revenue.
- 'It' refers to ChatGPT. Sites built with ChatGPT-style language models count, especially where there are clear signs of OpenAI or chatbot output.
- No deadline was stated, so the claim is treated as open-ended. It can be settled early by credible documentation of such sites appearing and growing in number.
Counts as supported if: Independent investigations after the post document a growing number of AI-generated fake news or content sites built to earn ad revenue, with signs of ChatGPT or similar chatbot output.
Counts as contradicted if: Investigators look for such sites and find no meaningful growth in AI-generated ad-driven sites.
Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.
Current assessment
Did the forecast come true?
Outcome: Supported
The dated evidence matches what the claim committed to, under the criteria frozen before grading.
Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- Settled before its deadline
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
Marcus predicted that ChatGPT would be used to build more networks of fake websites made to sell ads. In May 2023, NewsGuard reported finding 49 news-style sites, mostly or entirely written by AI, that churn out clickbait to earn ad revenue. One of them published an OpenAI refusal message, which ties at least some of these sites to OpenAI's models. NewsGuard's tracker later counted 3,749 such sites by June 2026 and said they are often funded by programmatic advertising. This settles the open-ended forecast early, under the stated rule.
Limitations
- Most sites are attributed to AI chatbots in general, not to ChatGPT specifically.
- NewsGuard's counts depend on its own criteria and search methods.
Evidence (3 items)
Supports the claim: NewsGuard,
Artificial intelligence tools are now being used to populate so-called content farms, referring to low-quality websites around the world that churn out vast amounts of clickbait articles to optimize advertising revenue, NewsGuard found.
Why it matters here: Three months after the post, an independent monitor documented AI-written content-farm sites run for ad revenue. This is the kind of site Marcus predicted.
- Publisher
- NewsGuard
- Kind of source
- Independent measurement
- Describes events of
- Public from
Supports the claim: NewsGuard,
“I’m sorry, I cannot complete this prompt as it goes against OpenAI’s use case policy on generating misleading content.
Why it matters here: One documented site published an OpenAI refusal message. That ties at least some of these sites to OpenAI's chatbot models, as the claim's 'it' requires.
- Publisher
- NewsGuard
- Kind of source
- Independent measurement
- Describes events of
- Public from
Supports the claim: NewsGuard,
To date, NewsGuard’s team has identified 3,749 AI Content Farm news and information websites spanning 16 languages
Why it matters here: The count grew from 49 sites in April 2023 to 3,749 by June 2026. The same page says these sites are often funded by programmatic advertising. This shows the predicted growth.
- Publisher
- NewsGuard
- Kind of source
- Independent measurement
- Describes events of
- Public from
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Marcus on AI, AGI will not happen in your lifetime. Or will it?
we can also expect more and circles of fake web sites in order to sell advertisements
- Where
- paragraph 54
- Published
- 2023-01-22
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment marcus-agi-will-not-happen-in-your-lifetime-6ae4f4-a1: Current. Outcome: Supported. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.
About assessment marcus-agi-will-not-happen-in-your-lifetime-6ae4f4-a1.