The Louisbourg Lighthouse, which was the first lighthouse built in Canada. Contributed/NovaScotia.com Photo by cc /ccArticle contentKnown for its rugged natural beauty, quaint towns and villages and slow pace of life, few people would accuse Cape Breton of being ahead of its time.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThat is until a freelance comedy writer mistakenly tricked Meta AI and Google into believing the island had its own time zone that put it the 12 minutes ahead of mainland Nova Scotia and the rest of the Maritimes.Article contentArticle contentLast year, Janel Comeau wrote an article for the Canadian news satire publication The Beaverton that claimed Cape Breton planned to adopt a “small and incredibly annoying time zone right between the Atlantic Time Zone and the Newfoundland Time Zone” in an attempt to get more attention.Article contentArticle contentThe satirical piece even quoted then-Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Amanda McDougall as saying “For too long, Cape Breton has been overlooked by the rest of the Maritimes. Newfoundland gets all the stereotypes. New Brunswick gets all the Jean Coutu locations. Halifax gets all the economic prosperity, and also all of the good seasons of Trailer Park Boys.”Article content Janel Comeau is a living in Halifax. ContributedArticle contentTELLTALE SIGNArticle contentWhen the story was originally published last July most people realized it was a joke, said Comeau, whose choice of a 12-minute difference was intended to be a telltale sign.Article content“People are pretty willing to believe kind of anything about Atlantic Canada, which is the fun part. So that was the concept: what if Cape Breton had its own time zone? I think most people know that Newfoundland is half an hour ahead of the rest of the Maritimes so what if Cape Breton was right in the middle — 12 minutes ahead of Nova Scotia and 18 minutes behind Newfoundland. I just thought it’d be funnier if it wasn’t 15 and 15 — that’s a little bit too believable. I wanted to give people a fighting chance to know it was satire,” said Comeau, who is originally from Moncton and now lives in Halifax.Article contentArticle content“I think a couple of people took the bait but it mostly became something that fellow Atlantic Canadian shared to be like, ‘Oh, look, Cape Breton got mentioned in The Beaverton,’ or I got a lot of comments from other Nova Scotians just saying, ‘Oh, you know, my cousins in Cape Breton thought that was funny.’ or ‘I sent this to my mom back home.’ I don’t think it was a ton of people who actually took it seriously.”Article content Comeau posted screenshots of Google and Meta AI results to her satirical Cape Breton time zone story on social media. Contributed/Janel Comeau/XArticle contentArticle contentIMMUNE TO IRONYArticle contentHowever, Comeau discovered that AI is immune to irony a couple of weeks ago while she was reviewing her past work for her portfolio.Article contentWhen she found a Facebook post of the original article, Meta AI’s prompt questions appeared to be treating it like it was a real news story.Article content“There were these little prompts that were like ‘How will this change affect businesses?’ and ‘When does this change come into effect?’ I was like, ‘Uh-oh. Meta AI is treating this as if it’s a real thing,’” said Comeau, who then asked Meta AI directly.
Twelve minutes ahead? Cape Breton caught in AI time warp
