The World Series of Poker removed all six published episodes of the No Limit documentary from their YouTube channel. The move came after the series’ creator admitted to using artificial intelligence to alter quotes.
“WSOP has recently learned that AI-generated content was used in the No Limit docuseries to alter players’ words without authorization,” the company wrote in a social media post. “We have removed the videos and will redo the editing to ensure the final product reflects our standards.”
Alan Keating Brought The Issue To Light
Alan Keating, one of the docuseries’ subjects, brought the issue to light. The high-stakes cash game regular revealed staff altered his quotes using AI. In a since-deleted post, Keating accused the filmmakers of “putting words in his mouth.”
In a response, Dustin Iannotti, who produced No Limit, acknowledged the edits but tried to minimize the effects of the alterations.
“Regarding [Keating’s] concerns: We used AI technology on two brief sequences during post-production, totaling approximately 10 seconds across the 55 total minutes of episodes 5 and 6. As we’ve discussed with Alan directly, we should have consulted him on these editorial choices.”
After pointing to “an overwhelmingly positive response” for episode 5, Iannotti referred to separate work he and his company have done for Keating’s personal YouTube channel.
“Separately, as Alan’s YouTube production team, we’ve always had his best interests in mind and remain committed to our creative partnership. We wish this had been handled privately, but we understand emotions can run high with regards to creative work. We stand by our work and the overall integrity of the docuseries.”
Keating responded, stating, “This doesn’t deserve a reply and you know why.” Like Keating’s initial post, Iannotti deleted his statement and Keating did the same with his response.
Ianotti later claimed that despite the AI alterations, the context of Keating’s statements remained the same. Ianotti said that he made the alterations in service of “faster scene transitions and narrative pacing.” But Ianotti deleted those posts as well.
Keating Was Only Subject To Claim Altered Quotes
While there was no confirmation of additional AI-related alterations in any of the other four released episodes, or the two remaining, yet-to-be-released episodes originally set to drop in the coming week, the issue was deemed serious enough by the WSOP to pull the series indefinitely.
The documentary followed a number of subjects at the 2024 WSOP Paradise festival. That group included Keating, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Faraz Jaka, among others.
Actress and WSOP bracelet winner Jennifer Tilly, who also featured in the documentary, expressed significant concern in line with many others in the industry.
“Wow. Just wow. I don’t even like being misquoted,” Tilly said in a post on X. “I can’t imagine what it would be like for somebody to use my voice to put words in my mouth in a ‘documentary.’ This is so egregious on so many levels.”
