AI is one of the most frustrating parts about being both a writer and a car enthusiast right now, and I’m not even talking about how my work has been straight ripped by AI websites or the fact that it’s awful for research. I hate that I have to triple-check press images from startup companies to make sure they’re not AI-generated. Now, you can’t even trust that someone posting a brochure image didn’t feed it through an AI first.
Jason wrote about how it seems that someone put a Volkswagen ad through an AI, and it completely garbled up the descriptions of each car. Emil Minty had this to say in the comments:
Old nam slakes furst at clood.
I think the reference there is “old man shakes fist at cloud.”
Rafael:
The best lies are those close enough to the truth that you question yourself. This zombified ad is probably a result of upscaling gone wrong, and we could spot the slop this time – but soon those algorithms are going to proofread their slop enough that they will check for coherence, then something like this will pass with “upgraded grille” instead of “upgrade brakes” (because AI will probably never check if a VW even has a grille).
AI content is like boxed cakes, fine if you are home cooking in a pinch, not fine if you are doing it professionally as a career. I am glad we’re served only the freshest cakes made with love from rust flour, perfectly aged engine oil and only the finest transmission shavings.
Tbird:
Who knew that an old Encyclopedia Britannica may someday be worth more than gold. I still have hard copies of my old engineering school texts. I may be rich!
Thomas wrote about how China now makes more affordable carbon ceramic brakes. Rust Collector:
I demand carbon ceramic drum brake replacements!
Matt wrote a Morning Dump with stories about the Canadian trade war and about the 2026 Daytona Shooting Brake Hommage. Jdoubledub:
From shooting dicks to shooting brakes. The Morning Dump has it all!
Finally, the Bishop envisioned a convertible Nissan that I would probably buy in 20 years. Canopysaurus:
Maybe Nissan should consider making a cabriolet version of a city bus if they want to attract Mercedes’ attention.
Rublicon:
I hope all car companies are making decisions based on what Mercedes might buy in 20 years.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Top Graphic image: AI/VW
“It’s Okay, AI, You’ll Get It Right One Day: COTD”
I used to think that. Now I think it won’t.
AI is doomed for the same reason Y2K didn’t happen. Computers have no idea what the information is telling them. It’s a math problem made even more difficult because while they can do the regular math all the fake, bogus, and lies on the internet is like doing the math problem while some jerk stands next to you yelling incorrect numbers in your ear.
I made it with a comment related to the top image! But Em beat me to the top comment… well done, sir, it was a good one.
Now I need to chase the legendary holy grail of a COTD inside of a COTD. It is an elusive beast because there’s always a risk of yet another COTD inside THAT, risking a chain of COTDs that could shake the Earth disc and destroy the universe.
COTD all the way down!
@Mercedes I always love that you highlight the wits/giggles/dumbassery in the comment section. Always cracks me up! @Commentors keep at it!
“AI content is like boxed cakes, fine if you are home cooking in a pinch, not fine if you are doing it professionally as a career.”
Funny. One of the more disappointing cakes I’ve had was a corn muffin cake made by mixing half a cornbread recipe and half a box of yellowcake. It had a decidedly metallic tang.
Oh, wait. That might have been radiation poisoning. Well it was way too sweet to.
The most surprising one was a chocolate cake made in a dutch oven in a campfire. No it wasn’t fancy bakery great but it was a cake made in a campfire and as I’m sure you well know camping resets expectations. It was delicious despite not being bakery fancy.
(Ironically a chocolate cake made in dutch oven in a campfire is exactly the kind of thing I’d expect from AI.)
Hey if you can bake a decent chocolate cake for one by the heat of a light bulb in an EX Bake oven I don’t think a box cake is that bad.
BTW corn like carrot and any other vegetables isn’t a cake. It’s like fake meat it isn’t anything like the real thing.
If you go strictly by definition there isn’t much that ISN’T cake:
: a breadlike food made from a dough or batter that is usually fried or baked in small flat shapes and is often unleavened
: a sweet baked food made from a dough or thick batter usually containing flour and sugar and often shortening, eggs, and a raising agent (such as baking powder)
: a flattened usually round mass of food that is baked or fried
a fish cake
: a block of compacted or congealed matter
a cake of ice
: a hard or brittle layer or deposit
something easily done
after so much studying, the test was cake
For example:
The plaque in your arteries? Cake!
A job well done? .Cake!
A veggieburger? Patty cake!
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cake
Camping makes all foods taste better. Combination of fresh air, exercise, and hunger. Just ask any homeless person, they know. Poor devils; there but for the grace of god go I, or we.
True dat.
Thank you! I will enjoy the five bees one gets for a COTD mention.
It took me a second read to even see what you did there. Congratulon!
You are more awake than I am. I’ll read it again after some coffee.
Hey neat! I made the show.
Wicked pissah.
I’d LOVE to see what happens with a fully carbon ceramic drum as an experiment. As I understand it, and I am very likely wrong, the thermal conductivity is really bad, but the ability to withstand heat is unbelievable. Could we get the inside of the drum hot enough to melt through the axle?
I’m game for trying!
While we’re spending imaginary development money, let’s have the new drums be water cooled to handle the heat.
I think the water would boil too quickly. Maybe use brake fluid as coolant?
Since this whole concept is in the Silly Zone, details don’t matter all that much. The boiling could be intentional.
Boiling brake water could add the Sturm und Drang of brake hiss much like a big rig or steam train.
That could be the dramatic soundtrack of an arrival that attention desperate hypercar buyers so crave.
We should pitch this idea to McLaren because maybe after their “Tire Water” accusations last year they’d be game?
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/zak-brown-explains-tire-water-bottle-says-f1-must-rethink-protest-fees/10719288/
Interesting attachment I had no idea about any of this. I would actually like a story about racing covering the rules and regulations and allegations. I had no idea there were rules on how to keep tires and brakes cool. Also an explanation why
It would make their cars stand out in a (relatively) crowded field of hypercars.
Steam und Drang?
Sturm und Steam und Drang
Maybe antifreeze since that’s what it’s made for
A 50:50 mix of antifreeze and water boils at 223°F (106°C), not much higher than pure water. And ethylene glycol vapor would be quite toxic but propylene glycol might be OK.
Just seal water inside the drum and enjoy the fireworks as the water expands to 20x the volume in steam and quite literally blows your wheels off.
There was one year in Formula 1 history when they cooled off the drivers with a system that essentially just let Freon expand into channels in the helmet, remove heat, and enter the atmosphere. IIRC, the environmental folks got a bit upset, cuz it’s a greenhouse gas.
Still, we could make that work with the new Drums Of Freedom carbon ceramic drum brake upgrade. Model A fords and American Iron rear axles will enjoy F1 level braking (whether the rest of the car can handle it or not).