Creative GenerationReplaces Human LaborVerified
Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 22, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.
From roughly 2012 to 2015, Forbes published short AI-written articles about company earnings on its website, produced by a software platform called Quill, made by a company called Narrative Science. The articles were generated automatically from structured financial data and published under a Narrative Science byline — no human journalist wrote them.
Details
Quill used natural language generation — a technique that turns data tables into readable sentences — to analyze earnings figures, stock prices, and analyst estimates, then produce short-form preview articles. An example article about Barnes & Noble appeared on Forbes.com and was reported on by Slate in 2014. The practice appears to have ended around 2015–2016; a 2017 report noted Narrative Science had not produced Forbes articles for more than a year. Narrative Science was acquired by Salesforce in December 2021 and the Quill product was discontinued. This practice is no longer active.
Products affected
Forbes.com financial content
Sources & Evidence
News Article
Cite this record
Trace Foundation. (2026). Forbes: From roughly 2012 to 2015, Forbes published short AI-written articles about company earnings on its website, produced by a software platform called Quill, made by a company called Narrative Science. The articles were generated automatically from structured financial data and published under a Narrative Science byline — no human journalist wrote them (data as of 2026-03-22) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/a79e79ee-a687-4700-875c-ec55676be434. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Stable link
- https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/a79e79ee-a687-4700-875c-ec55676be434
- Data as of
- March 22, 2026
- Last verified
- March 22, 2026
Other practices by Forbes
OtherForbes has taken steps to stop AI companies from using its articles to train their AI systems without permission. It has blocked AI web crawlers from its site, sent a legal cease-and-desist to Perplexity AI after it republished a Forbes exclusive using AI, and joined a group of 14 publishers in a federal copyright lawsuit against AI startup Cohere for allegedly using thousands of Forbes articles without authorization.OtherIn July 2025, Forbes created a new internal group called the AI & Strategic Platforms Group to lead its AI strategy and revenue development. CEO Sherry Phillips also announced that Forbes is developing an "AI Manifesto" — a written framework setting out the company's stance on how AI should be used, what ethical limits apply, and how risks will be managed. As of August 2025, the manifesto had not yet been published.Creative GenA study published in late 2025 found that roughly 15% of all articles published on Forbes Business Council in 2024 were likely written by AI, not humans. Forbes Councils is a paid membership platform where business executives publish their own content — it operates under different editorial oversight than Forbes' core journalism. The study's authors also successfully submitted and published a fully AI-generated article on Forbes Technology Council in July 2025.
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