![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/www.canadiancontractor.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/flannery-headshot-402x450.jpeg\")
Yep, they got me. In our October edition of Canadian Contractor I published a guest column titled \u201cWhy men and women need different PPE\u201d by Evelyn Long, an editor at Renovated.com. Last week I found out that \u201cEvelyn Long\u201d doesn\u2019t exist. At best, she\u2019s a fake profile fronting the work of a content farm. At worst, she\u2019s an AI and I never interacted with a human being throughout the entire pitch and submission process. Since a big part of my job is to evaluate sources and ensure only trustworthy content makes it to you through our channel, this discovery was deeply embarrassing. It was especially humiliating because I was one of those old-school editors who, in my arrogance, scoffed at the thought that I could ever be fooled by a machine when it comes to the written word. I didn\u2019t pay enough attention to the warnings that AI was approaching levels of sophistication that would make this kind of thing possible, and now my product has paid the price. I offer my apologies to you, my readers, and commit to doing better in the future (more on that below).<\/p>\n
In the interests of turning this failure into a teachable moment, I\u2019d like to share how this all came about. I\u2019ve included the full email string with Evelyn at the end of this article, with my comments and thinking at the time included. It\u2019s long, but I think it\u2019s instructive to see just how adept at carrying on a realistic conversation these tools now are.<\/p>\n
All excuses and explanations aside, I\u2019ve broken my promise to you to not publish AI-generated material without clearly identifying it as such. The online versions of Evelyn\u2019s column have been taken down, but there\u2019s nothing I can do about the print edition except apologize and tell you how we\u2019re going to avoid this in the future.<\/p>\n
As you can see from the email string, I\u2019ve already learned a lot about how to identify AI content. I\u2019ll be using those tools religiously. I\u2019ll also be asking new contributors for a quick \u201cget to know you\u201d video call before letting them into the channel. Hopefully it will be at least few years before AI is able to game those methods, too.<\/p>\n
And, for what it\u2019s worth, everyone within reach of this is now aware that \u201cEvelyn Long,\u201d \u201cRose Morrison,\u201d \u201cPeter Chambers,\u201d \u201cOlivia Elsher,\u201d \u201cEllie Gabel\u201d and the rest of the merry band at Renovated.com are fakes. Go ahead and enjoy their stuff if you wish, but be aware you\u2019d be just as well off with a Google search for the information you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n
I wonder if Building Safety Journal<\/em> (the International Code Council\u2019s publication), PBCtoday, the American Society of Home Inspectors, the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Association of Realtors, the National Centre for Construction Education and Research, Breaking Ground (a homebuilding non-profit) and Apartment Therapy are aware that Renovated.com is listing them in its \u201cFeatured on\u2026\u201d section. Canadian Contractor<\/em> may soon be joining them and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it. It\u2019s kind of like going to Hell \u2013 you don\u2019t want to be there but the company is excellent.<\/p>\n The father of modern computing, Alan Turing, famously said that a computer should be considered to be capable of thought if it\u2019s responses in conversation were indistinguishable from a person\u2019s. We\u2019re obviously a lot closer to that point than I thought.<\/p>\n My interactions with Evelyn<\/strong><\/p>\n My brief working relationship with Evelyn Long began with this email:<\/p>\n From:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Evelyn\u00a0Long\u00a0<<\/em>evelyn<\/em>@renovated.com<\/em><\/a>> Hey Patrick,<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m interested in writing for Canadian Contractor and I was wondering if you have any contributor openings. I\u2019m the construction editor at\u00a0Renovated magazine<\/em><\/a>\u00a0with work in the construction safety field featured on Construction Executive, Fieldwire, and more.<\/em><\/p>\n Here are some samples of my work: Would you like to hear some topic ideas from me?<\/p>\n Have a great day! This is an excellent introduction letter. Straight to the point with links to published items. I receive much, much worse from human writers. Nothing in the address that suggests sketchy foreign origins.<\/p>\n The sites where Evelyn\u2019s work has appeared are real construction communication sites run by human editors. All good so far, and evidence that I\u2019m not the first editor Evelyn has fooled.<\/p>\n The Renovated.com site is a little\u2026unusual. It\u2019s a mis-mash of lifestyle-type content (\u201cHow to pick the right Christmas tree species\u201d) with interior design (\u201cThe best sleeper sofas\u201d) and grittier construction topics (\u201cIs glulam an asset to sustainable construction?\u201d). But there\u2019s nothing wrong with unusual. In fact, we\u2019ve had internal discussions about incorporating more design content into our channel. Maybe Renovated.com is just ahead of the trend.<\/p>\n The About page is also unusual enough that, in retrospect, it should have triggered a more in-depth investigation by me. It did in Kirstyn Brown, editor of our sister publication, MRO<\/em>, which is how we discovered Evelyn is a bot. The photos of Evelyn and managing editor \u201cRose Morrison\u201d look like glamour spreads in Vogue<\/em>. The attached bios are incredibly thin. Aside from telling us that the two \u201ceditors\u201d like their jobs and are good at them, we learn only that Evelyn likes crab cakes and Rose grew up in a \u201cfamily of contractors.\u201d Just the kind of answer you\u2019d get if you asked ChatGPT to make up a personal detail for a fictional construction magazine editor.<\/p>\n What I didn\u2019t do \u2013 because I\u2019m old \u2013 but Kirstyn did, was click through to their social media profiles. Things get even thinner there. All the links to social media go to Renovated.com sites\u2026Evelyn doesn\u2019t appear to have accounts on anything except Instagram. The Renovated.com Twitter account has no posts. Posts on Facebook are just reposts of the website content. There is no \u201cEvelyn Long, Renovated.com editor,\u201d on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n Evelyn\u2019s Instagram account is different. The photography is professional-grade\u2026but this is perhaps not surprising for someone purporting to be a professional journalist. There are some photos that look less staged, but it wouldn\u2019t be beyond the capabilities of AI to fake that. It\u2019s the text that is convincing while also having a whiff of artificiality. The content runs about as deep as a Hallmark card\u2026but again, not unusual for influencers in the lifestyle space.<\/p>\n But I didn\u2019t check the socials. And I skated past the other flags on the grounds that this appeared to be a person coming more from the lifestyle space, where curating a certain image is almost as important as generating good content. So I replied:<\/p>\n Hi,\u00a0Evelyn. I would be interested in hearing your pitches. I don\u2019t have a present need but budget season is approaching and I might be able to throw you something for next year.<\/em><\/p>\n Got this back:<\/p>\n Hi\u00a0Patrick,<\/em><\/p>\n Thanks so much for getting back to me! Some of my article ideas are below:<\/em><\/p>\n -X Certifications for Contractors to Become Experts in Green Building<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n -Tackling Mental Health Taboos in the Trades<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n -X Workplace Safety Myths in the Construction Industry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n -Can Promoting Mental Health Awareness Create a Safer Workplace?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n -Why Do Men and Women Need Different PPE? X Insights<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>I also wanted to note that because\u00a0I\u2019m trying to build my portfolio\u00a0out with some samples from publications in Canada, I would be willing to write these articles just for a byline, if that\u2019s something\u00a0you\u2019d be interested in.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Are you interested in moving forward with any of these topics?<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Again, straight up the middle for a young freelancer looking for work. It\u2019s free, and I don\u2019t have to run it if it\u2019s garbage. What\u2019s to lose?<\/p>\n Me:<\/p>\n Happy to publish for a byline if it serves our readers.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>The men\/women PPE article sounds good.<\/em><\/p>\n Evelyn comes right back. Wonderfully prompt responses.<\/p>\n Hi Patrick,<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Sounds great! I\u2019ll get this on my schedule and I should have a draft for you by early September. Let me know if you have any editorial\u00a0guidelines I should be aware of in the\u00a0meantime.<\/em><\/p>\n Promised in two weeks! I\u2019m in love. Then\u2026<\/p>\n Hey\u00a0Patrick,<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Hope you\u2019re well! I just wanted\u00a0to touch base because\u00a0my schedule ended up being a lot busier in August and early September than I expected, so I\u2019ll have this article ready for you around the end of the month. Let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>It doesn\u2019t get much more realistic than that. The freelancer has lost track of my assignment and is begging for more time. I\u2019m just thinking of using it online so I don\u2019t really care when it comes in. But, honestly, it\u2019s weird that the bot sent that. Had its masters had some kind of technical glitch? If so, it\u2019s ironic that all it did was contribute to the exchange\u2019s authenticity.<\/p>\n A couple weeks later, the article arrives. I have a need in my upcoming print edition and a one-page guest column is just right. The content is fine and topical \u2013 an overview of things contractors should think about when sourcing PPE for women.<\/p>\n Warning: things are about to get a lot more embarrassing for me from here. Starting with my exchange about gender semantics with a robot.<\/p>\n Hi,\u00a0Evelyn. This looks good, thanks. Since it\u2019s about the right length for a guest column, can you provide a headshot for me to run with it, please.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>I\u2019ve attached my edited version. I changed \u201cgender\u201d to \u201csex\u201d throughout because sex is the relevant metric for determining PPE fit in all cases\u2026gender might not be.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2026which gets this positive response:<\/p>\n That change sounds great, and I agree that it\u2019s probably more accurate! Just a quick question, will the links be included in the article when it\u2019s published? I link all the sources I use for my research in the article, and I like to make sure they\u2019re in there to avoid any\u00a0backlash from readers who feel that information isn\u2019t accurately cited.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>My headshot is attached here as well.<\/em><\/p>\n Note to self: run all headshots through Sightengine in future.<\/p>\n Evelyn has missed the fact that I\u2019m talking about running the column in print, but she wouldn\u2019t be the first contributor to do that. So I reply:<\/p>\n This version is for the print edition,\u00a0Evelyn, so links don\u2019t do much!<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Will include links when I post it online but holding off for now until after the magazine mails.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Evelyn:<\/p>\n Totally makes sense, I just wanted to confirm! Do you have an idea of when the magazine will mail? I like to keep an eye out for published articles when I can.<\/em><\/p>\n The bot is explaining a bit too much but not enough to stop me as I plow forward in my quest for free content. I let it know the mail date is end of October.<\/p>\n November 7, I get this:<\/p>\n Hi Patrick,<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>I hope you\u2019re well! I just wanted to check in and see if there\u2019s a date I can anticipate my article being published. I know you mentioned the targeted mail date was last week and I wasn\u2019t sure how quickly you put things on the site after everything is mailed out.<\/em><\/p>\n Friendly me, loving my new free freelancer, sends:<\/p>\n
Date:\u00a0<\/strong>Friday, August 15, 2025 at 7:30<\/em>\u202f<\/em>AM
To:\u00a0<\/strong>Patrick Flannery <<\/em>PF*******<\/span>@****************<\/span>ia.com<\/span><\/em><\/a>>
Subject:\u00a0<\/strong>New construction safety writer for Canadian Contractor<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2013https:\/\/www.constructionexec.com\/article\/responding-to-heat-stress-on-construction-sites-dry-heat-vs-humid-heat<\/em><\/a>
\u2013<\/em>https:\/\/constructionjobs.com\/post\/how-to-foster-a-safety-first-mindset-among-your-team<\/em><\/a>
\u2013<\/em>https:\/\/www.fieldwire.com\/blog\/mental-health-initiatives-construction-sites\/<\/em><\/a>
Evelyn<\/p>\n