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The Last Show with David Cooper

Love Letters By Robots Feel Crummy

07 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 25.849 David Cooper

Your above average intelligence brought you here. It deserves above average absurdity. This is The Last Show with David Cooper. Roses are red, violets are blue. If you use ChatGPT to write a Valentine's Day poem, the person you're writing it for will feel like it's a big F you. Okay, what we're gonna discuss. Who doesn't love efficiency?

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25.869 - 48.64 David Cooper

But when it comes to romance, using a robot like ChatGPT to write a loved one a gushing email or a poem It might save time, but it also comes at a cost. So we're going to dive into how this coming Valentine's Day, AI-written love notes will feel emotionally counterfeit and why. We're here with Danielle Haas, a marketing researcher at West Virginia University. Dani, welcome to the program.

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49.18 - 51.524 Danielle Haas

Thank you so much for having me. That was a beautiful poem.

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51.544 - 51.904 David Cooper

Thank you.

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Chapter 2: What does using AI for love notes say about our emotions?

52.024 - 58.253 David Cooper

I actually wrote that myself. I thought about asking ChatGPT to write one, but then I thought it'll make me seem like a fraud of an interviewer.

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58.503 - 59.945 Danielle Haas

Well, you know what? You did a great job.

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60.065 - 61.066 David Cooper

Did I though? I'm happy for you.

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61.166 - 61.506 Danielle Haas

You did.

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62.007 - 81.169 David Cooper

I love that you looked into how AI is perceived romantically. I know I've heard of research where it's like if you hear your coworkers use AI, you think less of them. But I never thought to think, oh, what if I like, you know, compose a gushing text to my girlfriend and use AI and she finds out. What motivated you to look into this?

81.52 - 93.379 Danielle Haas

Yeah, so it ended up coming from one of my co-authors who is just wonderful. Her name's Colleen. And it was her anniversary with her partner. And she used ChatGPT to help her write this poem.

93.399 - 93.659 David Cooper

Oh, no.

93.779 - 100.069 Danielle Haas

And she was like, oh, my God, I can't do this. She was so guilty. And she's like, I feel terrible. I have to.

100.049 - 124.825 Danielle Haas

um you know i have to tell them i have to come clean like we can't do this um and so i think that it's something that is really relatable um there's this temptation because chat gbt can write things really well and really fast and you can come up with like these perfect sentences but ultimately at the end of the day you know they aren't these messages are meant to be heartfelt and they're meant to come from our authentic selves i think when we don't have our authentic selves in these messages that's when we start to feel guilty too

Chapter 3: How does Danielle Haas define source credit discrepancy?

464.65 - 480.654 Danielle Haas

But our hearts contain, you know, there are compasses, there are souls. Like, I tell my students all the time, like, when you're excited about something, that's your soul telling you to go on this path and to do this thing. And, you know, they contain our intentions, our connections, our morality, all of these things.

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480.714 - 495.648 Danielle Haas

And it's like, if we're taking that away and we're outsourcing this part of ourselves to an unfeeling, heartless bot, can we still be our authentic selves with integrity? And I don't think so. And I think that AI is a wonderful tool. I tell my students to use it all the time.

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495.728 - 514.23 Danielle Haas

But I also think down the road, 10 years from now, there's going to be people who have like crises of like, I've never made a decision for myself. I've never truly connected with someone myself because I'm constantly outsourcing to AI. So that's kind of what I see. I don't know. Maybe the norms will be that way, but I hope not. I'm glad people are guilty. I really am.

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514.45 - 521.32 David Cooper

I don't know how we went from something so silly to something so deep. Thank you for that monologue. That was really inspired, Dani.

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521.3 - 535.873 Danielle Haas

I think about it. I think about it a lot. Like it's who are you if all you are is doing your work? And I've told my students before, and it's kind of to guilt them into actually doing their work. But I'm like, if your manager can do the prompt that you just put in a chat, what's your purpose at the firm?

536.013 - 536.854 David Cooper

Fair enough.

536.994 - 545.482 Danielle Haas

And so it scares them. And they're like, oh, I have to come up with value beyond that. I was like, yes, your knowledge, your skills like that. That's authentic. That's growth. That's, you know, what you're here for.

545.902 - 551.307 David Cooper

Anything especially corny that these large language models tucked into a love poem that you saw in your research?

551.59 - 570.679 Danielle Haas

It's the wedding vows that get me and it's like, you'll be with me forever. When it's so gushy, like that's when I'm like, I don't even know if I feel that way about anyone. Maybe I'm heartless, but like, I'm like, this is too much. But yeah, usually when it's too much and when it's wedding vows, that's when I'm like, oh no.

Chapter 4: What feelings do people experience when using AI for romantic messages?

583.409 - 586.575 Danielle Haas

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me and good luck to everyone out there listening.

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600.005 - 628.172 David Cooper

The world is changing. From the misuse of AI and the rise of deepfakes to the dangerous spread of misinformation, it's getting harder for Canadians to separate fact from fiction. That's why having a trustworthy news source is vital. At Global News, we're committed to objective journalism that cuts through the noise. Stick to the facts. Global News. Canada's trusted news.

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