Singapore's edition of Esquire magazine acknowledged using artificial intelligence to fabricate an interview with actor Mackenyu, who plays Roronoa Zoro in Netflix's live-action One Piece, raising questions about journalistic standards in a city-state known for media professionalism.
The publication ran the actor's previous interviews through Claude and Microsoft Copilot to generate new responses when Mackenyu's schedule prevented an in-person conversation, according to Kotaku. Editor Joy Ling explained the team needed to "be inventive."
The AI-generated piece included fabricated emotional claims about pressures from Mackenyu's deceased father, legendary actor Sonny Chiba, and wanting "to make him proud"—content that never came from the actor himself.
Fans discovered the deception in early April, nearly a month after publication. "I'm disappointed Esquire SG wrote an entire AI interview to replace Macken's response," one fan account stated. "I doubt they did this with his consent."
The incident exemplifies what media critics call "AI slop"—low-effort, algorithm-generated content presented as journalism. While Esquire Singapore stated human editors reviewed the AI output, the practice violates fundamental journalistic principles requiring authentic source interaction and transparency with audiences.
Singapore maintains some of Southeast Asia's strictest media regulations, yet those standards primarily address political speech rather than fabricated content. The Esquire incident suggests regional media outlets face new ethical challenges as AI tools become more accessible.
Ten countries, 700 million people, one region—and in Singapore, known for institutional rigor, a glossy magazine decided a chatbot could substitute for the real thing.
