Dear Editor,

There’s a lot of talk these days about so-called artificial intelligence creating false impressions. I don’t watch television, but I probably see many of the same ads on YouTube. The ads I see that are AI-generated are obviously fake. I find the narrations to be especially annoying, because they make flimsy claims that are unnecessarily hyperbolic.

For example, there are ads for a new form of air conditioner, and one time they are claiming that it was developed by a brilliant engineering student from Toronto, and the next time it was invented by a former NASA engineer. It’s not sold in stores, because the billion dollar cooling industry doesn’t want you to know about it. It’s the same device, which they claim will cool your home with one tenth of the energy, in heat waves or power outages. Wait, what’s that? How does this electrical device work during a power outage? That’s your problem, not theirs. I might be inclined to try such a device, but the trust has been broken before I get to the price.

Then, there’s the $1,000 in passive income that you can gain by investing money in a robot stock-trader algorithm. They have videos of Kevin O’Leary promoting it; I can believe that he would be behind such a scheme, but they also had ads which showed Justin Trudeau, and now, Mark Carney, promoting this idea. The Prime Minister of Canada promoting a get-rich-quick scheme? I don’t believe it. Watch the mouth closely, and you can spot the fakery.

You needn’t fear the deep fakes and artificial intelligence trickery. It’s just the modern version of card tricks and sleight of hand. You don’t believe the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are real, do you? It’s for entertainment purposes only. Actual reality?You’re soaking in it. The real world is full of fun stuff, and bargains that don’t cost your soul.

Robert Wills, Shawville and Thorne