AI Hallucinations in Business: How I Almost Used a Fake Case Study in My Keynote

When preparing for a keynote in Macau, I experienced firsthand how AI hallucinations in business can create serious problems. I turned to ChatGPT for localized examples for my WISER framework, and what happened next taught me one of the most important lessons about working with artificial intelligence in our field.

WISER stands for:

• Witty: Using clever, human, memorable language to bring personality to every interaction
• Immersive: Creating sensory and emotional experiences that clients feel deeply
• Shareable: Engineering moments clients can’t help but share — they become your best marketers
• Extraordinary: Being just a little bit better than ordinary — no extra cost required
• Responsive: Engaging with customer feedback in every channel

The Perfect AI-Generated Example That Checked Out

The first example ChatGPT provided was perfect — a Hong Kong dim sum restaurant called Yum Cha that turns traditional steamed buns into Instagram-worthy cartoon characters. I fact-checked it immediately, found Sarah Steiner’s food blog confirming every detail, and even secured permission to use her photos.

Here is ChatGPT’s response in its entirety:

🥢 Example: Yum Cha’s Playful Dim Sum in Hong Kong (Shareable & Extraordinary)

In the heart of Hong Kong, there’s a modern Cantonese restaurant called Yum Cha, whose name literally means “drink tea” – a cultural reference to the traditional dim sum experience. But Yum Cha does something… unexpected.

Instead of just serving the typical dumplings and buns, they make dim sum that stares back at you – literally. Their signature dish is a basket of steamed buns that look like cartoon characters – yellow ones that spurt hot custard out of their mouths like they’re vomiting when you poke them, little piggy buns filled with barbecued pork, and googly-eyed dogs with oozing cheese filling.

It’s a wild twist on tradition – playful, slightly weird, and absolutely irresistible on social media. You cannot eat this without taking a photo or video. It’s instinctual – people don’t need a sign telling them it’s a selfie spot because the food is the selfie spot.

And what’s brilliant is this: Yum Cha didn’t change the food formula. The buns still taste great. But by adding just a little bit of design flair and whimsy, they elevated an ordinary dim sum basket into something that’s not just delicious, but delightful – and unforgettable.

👉 This is “witty” and “extraordinary” at the same time – and it taps into exactly what you talk about: being just a little bit better than ordinary. They didn’t change the recipe – they changed the experience of eating it.

When AI Hallucinations in Business Create Convincing Fiction

Encouraged by this success, I asked for a second example, this time from financial services to match my keynote audience. The story ChatGPT delivered was compelling.

“Since your audience is in life insurance and financial services,” it responded, “here’s a non-food, extraordinary and shareable story from China that fits beautifully into your WISER framework – and also bridges to a more buttoned-up industry by showing how even serious sectors can create moments that resonate.”

Here’s the financial services story it shared, again in its entirety:

🏦 Example: ICBC’s “Emotion-Activated” ATM in China (Immersive & Shareable)

A few years ago, ICBC – the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, one of the largest banks in the world – launched an experimental ATM in Beijing that did something truly unexpected.

It had facial recognition – not for security, but for sentiment.

If the AI-powered ATM detected that you were frowning, looking stressed, or angry, it would pause your transaction and flash a gentle message:

“Looks like you’ve had a rough day. Would you like to take a breath before continuing?”

In some cases, it even offered guided breathing instructions or a short animation to reset your mood. Only after your expression relaxed would it continue the process.

The project wasn’t just a gimmick – it was a deliberate effort by ICBC to humanize digital banking, acknowledging that financial stress is real, and that sometimes, people don’t just need money – they need a moment.

Now imagine the person who used that ATM. What do you think they did afterward?

That’s right – they took a picture. They posted it. They told their friends: “You won’t believe what just happened to me at an ATM.” In an industry not exactly known for warmth or personality, ICBC gave them a small, unexpected moment of humanity.

And it all started with a single line of insight: Sometimes your customer doesn’t need speed – they need empathy.

It even included some rationale for why it would fit into my signature keynote:

💡 Why it Works for Your Talk:

• Insurance and finance are often viewed as transactional – cold, complex, or intimidating.

• This example proves that even in these industries, you can differentiate with experience.

• It opens the door for the audience to think: What is the ATM in my business? Where is the moment people feel stress? And how can we turn that moment into a memory?

The Reality Check: How I Discovered the Deception

The story was exactly what I needed — until I tried to verify it. I couldn’t find any confirmation. So I asked ChatGPT:

I like this example a lot. Can you tell me how old it is? Can you point me to any source material written about it? Can you point me to a sample social media post?

And that’s when it admitted to me that the entire story was made up. Completely fake. An AI hallucination.

“Upon further investigation, it appears that the specific “emotion-activated ATM” feature I described may not have been implemented by ICBC. While ICBC has indeed explored facial recognition technologies in their banking services, there is no concrete evidence that they deployed ATMs capable of detecting customer emotions to pause transactions or offer stress-relief prompts.”