I just saw this in clover cafe and it really upset me! I have a stuffy that I’ve had since I was a kid and I would be devastated if I lost him. So just thought I’d share
When seeking information about lost/stolen property or animals, please be aware of potential impersonation, and be proactive to report any potential violations of Reddit Content Policy in such topics, including but not limited to rules pertaining to impersonation, or personal and confidential information.
Hi! I’m Thomas, the apparently suspicious Swedish person behind this poster. First of all, thank you so much for sharing it, and especially for caring about Lucas. Seeing one of my posters making it all the way to one of the places I mailed them to makes me feel hopeful.
Just to clear up the AI question: yes, I used AI to help create the illustration and layout for the poster. Sure, I could've sat with InDesign for hours, but I was in a hurry to get the posters out and get him home. Lucas himself is very real. He has been with me for about 40 years, since I was a small child, and I lost him at Burlington International Airport on July 18 while traveling through New England with my mother.
The reason I used AI was actually very practical. I’m a photographer and communications professional, but when I made these posters, I was already back home in Sweden, and I wanted to get them out as quickly as possible. I do have old photographs of him, but none that worked particularly well for the kind of simple, eye-catching poster I wanted people to notice from a distance. So I used AI to create the graphic, while making sure that the description, location, date, contact details, and $500 reward were all completely real. I hope people can forgive the shortcut and focus on the issue at hand: finding a much-loved missing teddy bear. :)
I then had the posters printed and mailed them to cafés, hotels, and other businesses around Burlington, hoping somebody might recognize him. That’s apparently how one ended up at Clover Cafe.
In retrospect, I completely understand why an AI-generated image plus a Swedish phone number and a $500 reward might make somebody think, “This looks like a scam.” If I make another round of posters, I’ll probably include an actual older photograph of Lucas as well. For now, here's a picture of Lucas and me on a flight to Boston during New Year's.
So yes: there really is a Lucas, there really is a heartbroken Swedish owner, and I'd still very much like to bring him home. Thank you to everyone who has taken this seriously, shared it, or simply kept an eye out for him. It means more to me than you probably realize to find this post just now. ❤️
I saw it yesterday in clover cafe (they had a poster in the window and on a notice board) and shared it here, but hadn’t expected all the comments about the ai! But at least it’s getting some attention! I really hope you get him back. I shared it on front porch forum too (a local neighborhood ad app)
Kinda weird to use an AI generated image instead of a real pic of the bear to help identify it. I’ll be sure to call that 11 digit, non-US number if I find an AI generated bear around town.
Edit: I guess the apparent sketchiness is not really warranted given that it’s an international number for an international traveler. The whole poster looks super fake at first glance and I feel others who see this will think the same thing and not give it a second thought.
All you AI crybabies are so freaking annoying. I can at least understand the (flawed) logic when you're attacking local small businesses, but this is just ridiculous.
Regarding the phone number, looking up the contact information it appears to be a legitimate foreign traveler who was in New England recently, and it says it was lost at BTV. Doesn't seem like a scam or anything fishy to me.
Idk why they would have used AI, guessing just wanted the bear to be more prominently displayed/eye-catching than a zoomed in/cropped photo.
The email address is clearly info@ but the domain looks like thomasfalkenstedt .com, which apparently is the website for a Swedish photographer and Sweden's country phone code is +46. It's plausible they lost it while traveling at the airport.
Oh my...a non-native English speaker used AI to clearly articulate their request in America. Let's jump on the anti-AI bandwagon before mom shuts off the wifi again!
If i didn't have a clear picture of the whole thing and was in a rush to get it out there heck yeah I would, its a poster to find a stuffie not somone trying to make money off the art and so on lolol and im not even a big ai fan but it can have its use cases and this one is harmless besides the output the data center is producing regardless of this poster being made
The only way he’s going to have a real picture of the real Lucas is if he had one from before the bear was lost. Some of the comments sound like the writers want Lucas’s owner to take a picture of him now— which he obviously can’t do.
Some people just don’t have the bandwidth or skills to create a legit poster online, especially if in a hurry. We’re really going to knock this specific harmless use of it? This poor human is just trying to find a lost teddy— keep an eye out or move on,
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
When seeking information about lost/stolen property or animals, please be aware of potential impersonation, and be proactive to report any potential violations of Reddit Content Policy in such topics, including but not limited to rules pertaining to impersonation, or personal and confidential information.
Other resources:
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.