PicoBlog

The families who stepped into Glasgow’s Box Hub Warehouse on February 24 and 25 were promised “extraordinary props, oversized lollipops, and a paradise of sweet treats.” What they found was a handful of candy canes and a lonely Oompa Loompa who, to her credit, tried her best to entertain the disappointed children.

The Willy’s Chocolate Experience that fans of Roald Dahl’s classic were looking forward to turned out to be a text-book scam. Misleading, overhyped advertising, a no refund policy, and a cheap experience on the other end.

What made this particular scam go viral and generate much buzz online was not the poor quality of the experience or the reaction of the upset Glaswegians. What set it apart was that the scammers used AI generated copy and images for their advertisement.

AI skeptics immediately latched onto this implementation detail. Yahoo! News proclaimed that “the Willy Wonka shambles shows how dangerous AI can be,” and Chris Alsikkan concluded his thread on the incident with “just remember, generative AI advertising is ass.”

I’m here to tell you: AI is not to blame for the Glasgow scam.

AI is no more to blame for enabling the Glasgow fiasco than social networks are for providing a channel to advertise it, or online payment systems for allowing the scammers to collect the payment.

Technology doesn’t create scams. Scammers create the scam.

The causation arrow goes in one direction only.

Scammers may leverage technology for their nefarious plots, but technology does not create scams nor scammers.

Scammers existed before AI. Think of the infamous Fyre Festival, where attendees were promised a luxurious experience by their favorite social media influencers but only found packaged sandwiches and disaster relief tents.

Scammers existed before social media and the internet. Think of Charles Ponzi. Or Clark Stanley, the OG snake oil seller.

Scammers existed when there was little technology to enable them. In the middle ages, scammers like Edward Kelley sold hoax manuscripts and relics. The ancients had their fair share of scammers and people gaming the system, such as the Roman coin clippers and insurance-fraudster Hegestratos.

Wherever you look in history, you’ll find scammers.

Don’t blame AI. Blame human nature.

For every bad actor using AI to generate the images and text for their scam, there are many thousands of people who benefit from generative AI.

Complaining about AI “enabling” scammers is counterproductive. What we need to do is help folks develop AI literacy and create new technology to fight the bad actors.

We are in the transition period. Hopefully, incidents like the Willy’s Chocolate Experience scam will help people sharpen their BS filter.

Soon enough, most people will hear warning bells when visiting a site filled with AI generated images and copy, in the same way that most people immediately discard the email from the lawyer representing the lost uncle who left them an inheritance in Bitcoin.

The Willy’s Chocolate Experience scam has little to teach about AI. What it shows is that human nature never changes—and that you should do some research before buying stuff off the internet.

Originally published on giolodi.com.

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