Hall of Fame NFL star Charles Woodson has shared a cautionary tale from the broadcast booth, admitting he was caught out on live television after relying on artificial intelligence for his research.
The Live Television Mistake
The former defensive back, now a respected analyst for Fox Sports, recounted the incident during the Fox NFL Kickoff show. Woodson explained that ahead of the network's first week of coverage this season, he turned to the popular AI tool ChatGPT to gather a simple statistic.
"I said, 'How many games in the division did the Packers win last year?'" Woodson recalled. "And ChatGPT said they were 0-6 in the division." Confident in the answer, the 49-year-old presented the information authoritatively during the broadcast.
"I come up here and I say it with my chest," he said, "I'm talking about the Packers and I'm like, 'They didn't win a game in their division last year!'"
The Swift Social Media Correction
The error was quickly pointed out to the former player by eagle-eyed viewers on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "As soon as I got on my Twitter (X), they said 'Hey man, you know the Packers won one division game last year, they beat Chicago,'" Woodson admitted. The correct record for the Green Bay Packers within their division last season was 1-5, not 0-6 as the AI had stated.
Woodson's colleague on the show, Charissa Thompson, succinctly summed up the lesson: "You can't trust AI." The analyst himself offered his own blunt advice to the audience: "So make sure if you're using AI that you fact-check."
A Legendary Career Contrasted with a Modern Pitfall
The mistake is an uncharacteristic slip for one of American football's most decorated and consistent professionals. Woodson enjoyed an 18-season career in the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers.
His remarkable achievements include:
- Being a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and a four-time All-Pro.
- Winning Super Bowl XLV with the Packers in the 2010 season.
- Earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (1998) and Defensive Player of the Year (2009) honours.
- Recording a joint-record 13 career defensive touchdowns and 65 interceptions.
- Being inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.
Now in his eighth year as an analyst, having moved from ESPN to Fox Sports in 2018, Woodson is known for his sharp insight. This incident highlights a new challenge for broadcasters in the digital age: the seductive ease of AI-powered research tools and their potential for inaccuracy.
The story serves as a modern reminder that even for a perfectionist accustomed to the high-stakes environment of professional sport, thorough fact-checking remains indispensable, especially when innovative but fallible technology is involved.
