These fake AI ads are perfectly soulless

There’s a specific voice and vagueness to technology advertising today. The ads are often for startups you’ve never heard of selling a service or software that’s somehow related to AI. And while the ad voice is direct, in that it’s written as if it’s speaking directly to you, the viewer, the copy is intentionally cryptic. “Own Your Inference.” “Put AI Agents to Work for People.” Sometimes it’s menacing. “Stop Hiring Humans.” These kinds of ads seem to be everywhere lately, but that doesn’t mean that they make much sense. Now, comedians Harris Alderman and Dave Ross are emphasizing just how banal and meaningless the AI ad age is turning out to be by creating their own fake tech ads that skewer the medium simply by amping up its tropes: AI industry gobbledegook and design minimalism. [Photo: courtesy Harris Alderman and Dave Ross] The ads, which they put up as banners in a New York City subway station (much like the controversial, real ads for the AI companion Friend last fall) ask asinine questions. “What if forks were spoons?,” “What if Texas was upside-down?,” and “What if the Rizzler was purple?” One fake ad is for a company with a human name, “Dennis.” [Photo: courtesy Harris Alderman and Dave Ross] Another advertises a faux company that recently rebranded. “Zipline is now Froggle,” the ad says matter-of-factly. “The cloud-based online safety you know and love, now in the palm of your hand.” An ad for a brand called Fivetable confidently states “We Put the Q in QR1777,” and Wireflow promises “you pay us, we pay you.” [Photo: courtesy Harris Alderman and Dave Ross] Alderman and Ross were especially inspired by a real ad for the product development software company Linear, which shows cursors pointing toward God’s outstretched hand, as in Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam,&