There’s a video clip making the rounds. It’s from an AI-generated YouTube channel offering “news” about the wonderful world of pro wrestling. The machine narrator is uncannily making its way through the AI-written copy when it comes to the acronym “WWE,” kind of a fundamental item for a wrestling channel. It doesn’t know how to pronounce “WWE,” and falls into a doom loop. At first it’s repeating “Wu-Wu-Wu-Wu-Wu-Wu” over and over again. Then the voice takes on a tone of desperation, as if it knows it’s screwing up but can’t stop. Eventually the sound devolves into a bunch of truly disturbing chokes, splutters, and noises not found in nature. It’s entertaining until it gets really uncomfortable.

I thought of this while reading a recent offering from Compass Vermont, the presumably AI-generated Substack newsletter. I don’t spend much time on Compass because it is completely unreliable. Some stuff is fine, there’s even the occasional scoop. But a lot of it reveals a conservative bias. And worse, the site offers no transparency whatsoever about who’s writing, who’s editing, or any information at all about its internal processes. No staff are identified except for Tom Davis, Compass’ “founder.” His ongoing role is not described.

I can’t say for sure Compass is an AI product, but it sure displays the hallmarks. And the item in question, “Update: Late filings reduce Vermont’s 2027 committee chair turnover from 13 to 8,” shows what happens when AI takes a pratfall into the mud and can’t get up again.

The story is a massive correction to a previous article breathlessly reporting that 13 of the Legislature’s 27 committee chairs are not running for re-election. That would be a very big deal — if true. Unfortunately, it’s not. The real number is not 13, but eight. Or six, depending on how you count. Most Statehouse watchers would go with six.

The machine, or whoever was inputting the data, made a huge mistake by assuming that any lawmaker not listed as a 2026 candidate as of May 31 was, in fact, not running for re-election. What the Compass bots didn’t know is that the Secretary of State’s office spends days after the May 28 filing deadline to check all the candidate petitions, and provides a “cure window” for candidates to correct technical errors in their filings. This window closed on June 3, two days after Compass published its original story. As the Compass “Update” notes, the Secretary of State has yet to publish its final list of major-party candidates.

If Compass were an actual news organization with editorial oversight, this egregious gaffe would have been caught and killed before publication. The reporter would have been tasked with reaching out to the allegedly departing chairs to seek confirmation and comment. But Compass is not a newsroom in any established sense. It may or may not be AI slop, but its end product is at least slop-adjacent.

The “update” corrects the record in the most prideful way possible, arguing that the original piece’s “structural argument,” whatever the hell that is, still “holds.” I disagree. The original story’s point was that the Legislature is losing nearly half of its leaders. Eight departures is perhaps a bit higher than usual, but it’s in the ballpark of normal.

Also, Compass puts its thumb on the scale by listing Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth and House Speaker Jill Krowinski as committee chairs. They are, technically, but they chair their bodies’ respective Rules Committees, which meet intermittently and only have responsibility for internal procedures. The number of chairs departing from the more impactful policy or money committees is six, not eight or 13. That’s six out of 25 policy or money committees, or less than one-fourth. It’s pretty much a non-story.

There is no apology for the blunder. There is no link to the original, incorrect story. Indeed, that story was removed entirely and replaced by the “updated” version, which does not count as transparency or accountability in my book.

What’s more, the mistake wasn’t detected by anyone at Compass, if indeed there is actually anyone at Compass. It was noted in Compass’ comment section by state Rep. Gina Galfetti, Republican of Barre Town.

(Speaking of mistakes, a recent Compass article about Vermont’s iconic roadside treat manages to misspell “Creemee” as “Creemmee” in the subhead. The story was published on May 25 and the error is still present as of this writing. Oops.)

Aside from the fundamental flaw that led Compass to overhype the legislative exodus, the writing reflects the not-quite-there nature you often see in AI text. Take a gander at this:

With Hashim and Harrison returning, the Senate loses two of 12 chair positions: Pro Tem Baruth’s Rules chairmanship and Sen. Clarkson’s chairmanship of Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs.

The gears grind audibly as you fight your way through that sentence. Also, a woman holds a “chairmanship”? I guess Compass’ style guide is a tad out of date. Another sample, this one referring to House Corrections & Institutions Chair Alice Emmons:

Her continuation provides one of the continuity anchors heading into the next biennium.

Only a machine could love that sentence. Heck, let’s do one more:

The full corrected cross-reference of the 180 current legislators against the June 3 final certified candidate list will be published as an updated spreadsheet alongside this analysis.

A real editor would send that back to the writer with so much red ink that you could hardly make out the original. Generally speaking, Compass’ Journo-Bots turn out clunky phraseology that would have been simplified by a competent editor — if it even got to that point. A reasonably skilled reporter would be embarrassed to submit such thickets of prose.

Those in my readership who love to toss Jujubes from the balcony might be saying, “Hold on there, Mr. Walters. You’ve made your share of mistakes, and you often indulge in overcomplicated sentences.” True enough. But I don’t pretend to be a full-service news operation providing “strong journalism,” “evidence-first reporting and transparent analysis.”

I write as I see fit, and my blog is clearly labeled “Analysis and observation of Vermont politics from a liberal viewpoint.” You know who’s writing my stuff and who’s responsible. I do make clearly labeled corrections when warranted.

Warts and all, I do offer transparency. Unlike Compass Vermont, which will continue to be an occasional side dish in my journalistic diet.