The Creepiest AI ads of 2024

One sure sign that regular people don't know what to make of generative AI is that advertising for it in 2024 was such a flop.

Remember Google's Olympics ad, which suggested that its AI could supply heartfelt words for a fan letter? Pratfall. Many (most?) people see that the effort and care required in such a letter should come from its human writer, not a power tool for words.

Then came Apple's ads touting its new "Apple Intelligence" as a way to make you look as if you've put in an effort that you didn't. Or as if you’re thoughtful and caring when you aren’t. Being lazy and rude is no big deal, if you have a recent-vintage Mac or iPhone!

It takes a special kind of finesse to suggest both moral turpitude (I'm going to tell you I read a script that I didn't read) and stupidity (the meeting was called about this spreadsheet, but I still didn't read it). As Jeff Beer explained here a couple of months ago, the ads crossed the line from "we all have moments of being a jerk" to "hurray! being…