The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that the emergence of generative artificial-intelligence tools has allowed people to efficiently produce phony on-line reviews. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe says phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites such as Amazon and Yelp. They are typically traded on private social-media groups between fake review brokers and businesses willing to pay. Sometimes, such reviews are initiated by businesses that offer customers incentives such as gift cards for positive feedback. But AI-infused text-generation tools, popularized by OpenAI's ChatGPT, enable fraudsters to produce reviews faster and in greater volume. The deceptive, illegal practice is carried out year-round but becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season. Fake reviews are found across a wide range of industries, from e-commerce, lodging, restaurants and more. The Transparency Company, a tech company and watchdog group that uses software to detect fake reviews, said it started to see AI-generated reviews show up in large numbers in mid-2023 and they have multiplied ever since. Of 73 million reviews analyzed, it found nearly 14 per cent were likely fake.