I receive many honest and sincere letters from readers of my blog, and I truly enjoy responding to the many clock questions and challenges. But one letter I received recently gave me reason to think twice — the first of its kind I have ever received. Here it is:
“Dear Ron,
I wanted to reach out to express my appreciation for your wonderful blog, Antique and Vintage Mechanical Clocks. Your dedication to sharing knowledge about clock collecting and restoration as a true labor of love is both inspiring and valuable.
What stands out most is your approach—you’re not in the business of selling or repairing clocks, but rather you’re driven by genuine passion for learning about them, collecting them, and occasionally restoring them. The wealth of knowledge and experience you’ve gained and generously share with fellow enthusiasts is remarkable.
Your detailed explanations, from assessing clock conditions to preserving their timeless charm, provide invaluable guidance for both new collectors and experienced repairers. The fact that you’ve built a community of 957+ subscribers speaks to how much your expertise is appreciated.
Thank you for dedicating your time and expertise to educating and supporting the clock-collecting community. Your blog is a wonderful resource.
With appreciation,
Claude”
For a fleeting second, I thought it was a bona fide letter of appreciation. After rereading, some of the wording made me pause.
Claude is not a person at all; he—or rather, it—is Claude Sonnet (4.5), an AI language model. I have no idea why it was sent to me specifically. Well, I do have some thoughts. But going forward, I will be suspicious when something like this arrives in my email inbox again. I can only surmise that they (and they are not “people”) probably don’t want anything personal from me, like money or information (beyond what they already know), but maybe it’s some kind of experiment in marketing, data collection, or I might be a test subject to evaluate “Claude’s” writing.
As many of you know, I value real stories, provenance, and authenticity—very much in the spirit of horology—and this letter clearly shows the contrast.
The most amusing thing—none of the content is untrue!
This shows how easily polished words and information collected about each and every one of us can fool us, even without real human thought. In a world where words alone aren’t always honest, this letter is a neat parallel to clock collecting: like a clock that looks original but isn’t, it’s polished and convincing, but the origin isn’t what it seems.
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Antique and Vintage Mechanical Clocks 
Wow, good
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Thanks. Sad but true.
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Thanks for your message about AI. A friend of mine is obsessed with it. He uses it for all his communications whether it’s an email or letter to a friend or business. It’s sad as from one aspect it scares me, but I also fear it may cause people to be more disconnected from friends and neighbors. Folks spend too much time on social media as it is. I like seeing what you do and reading your emails. A friend of mine had built a number of clocks years ago and he had quite a “stash” of unused clock parts, hardwoods, and clock plans. He came down with multi-myeloma cancer and didn’t feel like working with it all anymore. He knew I was a woodworker and asked I would like to have it all (he knew me and knew I would do something with it). From what he gave me and what find at estate sales, I have built four clocks and am getting started on another. The one I have attached is my fourth clock. There was a beat up old “New England Regulator” I bought at an estate sale, with key and all the supporting paperwork. So I took it apart and documented the way it was internally. Then I designed a case and matched the interior built a new case out of walnut. Anyway, please continue with what you do and thanks for your emails,
Regards, David Smith dasmith254@outlook.com Woodway, TX
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AI has its place, but we all need to proceed cautiously. Any chance you you send me a photo of the regulator, I’d love to see your work? ronjoiner@antiquevintageclock.com
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Not sure I would have recognized that it was AI generated.
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Sometimes it is challenge, I agree.
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Oh Ron…I was thinking about you this morning as my Mounte clock stopped unexpectedly twice in the past
2 days..not sure why. Well I just wound it again and we’ll see and then I got your email!!!!
Wow….How did you know it was AI??? Although it does seem generic kinda of?? I love your writing especially the line…
like a clock that looks original but isn’t, it’s polished and convincing, but the origin isn’t what it seems.
So much for my typing skills!!!! Thanks for sharing…such a scary world with AI these days. Do you think my emails might be mistaken as AI? ha ha
Marie your real deal fan.
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Thankfully your email is very authentic. In this new world of AI we have to proceed with the utmost caution.
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