Taoyuan basketball tournament rocked by 'ghost teams' allegedly created by AI

The 10th Taoyuan Cup National 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, touted as one of the largest domestic events with over 2,000 teams and nearly 8,000 participants, has been marred by controversy. Mayor Chang San-cheng attended the opening ceremony, highlighting the event's scale.

However, the tournament quickly devolved into chaos as a large number of registered teams failed to appear, leading to widespread forfeits. Players who traveled specifically for the competition found themselves waiting for games that never materialized, with some advancing automatically due to the no-shows. This situation has sparked accusations that the organizers inflated participation numbers.

Online discussions revealed numerous AI-generated team names, such as "Thunder Break," "Black Tortoise Break," "Rocket Assault," and "Dawn Assault," which were highly repetitive and lacked any human element. Critics argue that these "ghost teams" were created to artificially boost the event's perceived success.

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Now, even the Taoyuan City government is holding a 3-on-3 basketball game and can use AI to inflate participation numbers and create a false impression of many teams competing.

Political commentator Chou Hsuan criticized the Taoyuan City government's handling of the event, questioning Mayor Chang San-cheng's silence on the matter. Chou pointed to a government procurement contract awarded to Changyang International Enterprise Co. for NT$5 million to organize the tournament. He suggested the company generated fake teams to create an illusion of a grand event.

The Taoyuan City Sports Bureau has since apologized and stated it will hold the contractor responsible. Chou, however, expressed disappointment, contrasting Chang's silence with Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an's stance on deepfake videos targeting President Lai Ching-te, where Chiang stated such attacks should be directed at him. Chou questioned why Chang, known as the "AI Mayor," did not adopt a similar defiant stance regarding the alleged AI-driven fabrication at his own city's event.

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Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an said that deepfake videos of President Lai Ching-te were all directed at him. The Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng, known as the 'AI Mayor,' faces embarrassment from his own city event being 'faked by AI.' It's enough to lose face, but why doesn't he dare to shout 'Everything is directed at me'?