A baseball reporter has seen the funny side after being criticized on social media for a viral video of her asking AI for questions to pose to the Seattle Mariners team.
The widely-respected Angie Mentink appeared to be unaware that a fan was filming her in the footage, which zoomed in to show she had asked artificial intelligence: ‘Good questions after a tough loss in baseball.’
It appeared that the social media user who filmed it was keen to criticize Mentink, captioning the four-second clip: ‘Angie Mentink do you know of any good questions to ask after a tough loss? Asking for a friend…’
Mentink, who works for Root Sports, acknowledged the video on Thursday afternoon, writing on X: ‘Currently asking AI how to handle going viral for using AI.
‘In all seriousness, I’m late to the AI party. Earlier this season I experimented with AI to see if it had any questions to add to my list for my postgame coverage. We’ve come a long way from pen and paper when I started in 1997. Always learning.’
Mentink, who has been covering the Mariners since that day she referenced in 1997, is also back reporting on the Mariners after having a stroke in February.
She was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
Reflecting on her recovery in a recent interview with Seattle Met, Mentink said: ‘I think that people see themselves in me a lot.
‘Just being a mom…I gain weight, I lose weight, I have breast cancer, I have the same struggles as anybody else. And just to remind people that all of this is sort of normal in the scheme of things and on this journey of life.
‘There is no such thing as losing. You either win or you get better.’
She received a lot of backing from fans on social media in the aftermath of the clip emerging.
‘Don’t listen to the haters, you’re the best,’ one responded to her, while another wrote: ‘Thank you for all you do, Angie. One of the best people around the M’s.’
The Mariners return to action Thursday night against San Diego Padres, who they lost 7-6 against on Wednesday.
