Sam moves a post to the trash after learning that the expert quoted was an AI generated hoax

We get a lot of email here at Fit is a Feminist Issue mostly from people who are offering advertising or to write sponsored posts that contain product links. If I reply, I say no, but mostly I ignore these offers.

Today I got a different sort of email telling me that one of experts quoted in one of our posts, a Dr. Eleni Nicolaou of Davincified, is actually not a person but an AI generated persona, a hoax.

A news outlet called Press Gazette reported that Dr Eleni Nicolaon was found to be an AI generated persona, tricking various publications into being featured as an expert. The persona was featured in dozens of articles and media outlets and Press Gazette’s exposé also explains how fabricated experts are used to secure links to commercial websites, in case you were wondering why anyone would bother to do this. I wondered.

See Prominent art therapist quoted by Vice, Forbes and others is AI-generated.

“Dr Nicolaou, who purports to be an expert in residence for paint-by-numbers kit selling website Davincified, claims to be an art therapist from Cyprus – but there is no sign of her practice online.

Instead, in her various online profiles on Facebook and Linkedin, everything links back to her profile on Davincified. ‘Dr Nicolaou’ did not respond to requests to verify her identity by email or sent via social media.

She has opined on everything from low-effort self-care (on Forbes) to how to retire (Parade) to ‘crying therapy’ (Glamour) and which colour to paint your wall to calm your dog (Vice).”

I was quoting Dr. Eleni Nicolaon on the Sweish tradition of “Fredagsmys” or “cozy Fridays.”

Here’s my two cents on the cozy Friday tradition, from the now deleted blog post: “While I am a big believer (for me, I know it’s not best for everyone) in working when I’m working and taking weekends off, and I like the idea of rituals to mark transitions, this sounds too cozy for me. What am I doing this Friday? Going into the big city for dinner with friends and a concert. Saturday I’ll ride my bike and go to a play. Sunday might be anti-gravity restorative yoga. There will definitely be dog walks. Barring an emergency on campus, there’ll be no work work, though there will be some cleaning and housework. Maybe what this tells me is that I don’t need help shifting into weekend mode. Weekend mode comes pretty naturally. I think if I could pick one summer Friday ritual it might be an after work bike ride and a backyard BBQ with friends after. How about you? What do you think of the cozy Friday idea?“

The article I quoted was Feeling Burned Out by Friday? Why “Fredagsmys” Is the Cozy Swedish Ritual Everyone’s Embracing on the Real Simple website.

I’ve taken my Cozy Friday piece down but the Real Simple article which lists Eleni Nicolaon as “PhD, art therapist and creative wellness coach at Davincified” is still standing.

So we’re doing our best to keep comercial ad-directed content off the blog-there are no sponsored blog posts here–I’ve learned that we’ll need to be more careful quoting from other websites. As far as we can tell Dr. Eleni Nicolaon isn’t real. But the people behind her trying to make money from traffic directed to the Davincified website certianly are.

Apologies.