# AI vs. Al (Artificial Intelligence vs. someone named Albert or Alfred) **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Tags:** ai\ **Created:** [September 19, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215 "2026-09-19T21:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/1 "2026-09-19T21:23:51Z")
There’s a modnote in the general aviation thread: [The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 2) - #432](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/432) where the moderator thought that @Spiderman was posting something made with AI. It seemed odd given the flow of the conversation, so I copy-pasted from the text out to a console, and indeed, the post was about someone named (capital)A(lowercase)L. The font that is used on my computer makes AI and Al basically indistinguishable to my old eyes, and I fear a similar confusion may have provoked the modnote. It’s not a huge deal, but as someone who might well end up posing about both “weird AI” and “Weird Al”, I thought I would point this out to the mod community, hopefully with the same gentleness and good humor that has been given when I’ve been modnoted over the years. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/2 "2026-09-19T21:33:04Z")
Thanks. Honestly, i was thoroughly confused by what @Spiderman posted, and it sounds like the mod note may have been inappropriate. Maybe he’ll post here and clear it up. (It was only a note. Nothing serious.) I will repeat my comment that as a poster (not a mod) i wish he’d explained more clearly what he was posting. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/3 "2026-09-19T21:58:39Z")
You left out the people called [Alastor](https://www.reddit.com/r/Alastorcult/comments/1prre6r/fuck_al_wait_fuck_ai_wait_helluvaschnolf/).. Charlie from “Hazbin Hotel” angry at Artificial Intelligence and holding a sign that says “F\*\*k AI” and sure enough, Alastor comes into frame to say with an evil smile: “Excuse me!!!”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/4 "2026-09-19T22:02:44Z")
I too was baffled as to his real meaning. Too much context not included and too much cuteness / coyness. Not that it greatly matters; we all post something confusing now and again. No personal criticism intended. But yeah, the AL vs AI confusion is huge everywhere. If anything will drive the online world back to serif fonts, it’ll be this. Maybe we’ll all start slashing the lowercase L to distinguish it from uppercase I. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/5 "2026-09-19T22:37:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If anything will drive the online world back to serif fonts, it’ll be this. And then there are some of us who hold the position that the horizontal bars on a capital I are not serifs at all, but a part of the letterform itself, and that a font that omits them is simply incorrect. We’re fighting a losing battle, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/6 "2026-09-19T23:12:18Z")
Hmmm. You’re absolutely right and I’d not thought of it that way until you pointed it out. Thank you. A proper sanserif font uppercase I has crossbars. A serif font uppercase I has crossbars with little vertical feet on their ends. Leaving the crossbars off an uppercase I is as wrong as leaving the top crossbar off an uppercase T. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/7 "2026-09-20T00:15:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If anything will drive the online world back to serif fonts, it’ll be this. If only. Sans fonts are the tool of the devil (metaphorically; I don’t believe in devils). And you can’t slash a lower case L on a screen, can you? I don’t know how to overlay two characters, if that’s what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/8 "2026-09-20T00:18:06Z")
It wouldn’t be a problem if people consistently abbreviated artificial intelligence as A.I. (with the periods, in other words). That seems unlikely, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/9 "2026-09-20T01:14:39Z")
That seems grossly unfair to my good friend A.l.ouicious. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/10 "2026-09-20T01:24:19Z")
Maybe the short form name “Al” for people will fall into disuse. Kimda like the fully legit Germanic name “Adolf” or “Adolph” crashed in popularity in ~1943? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/11 "2026-09-20T03:00:31Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > the post was about someone named (capital)A(lowercase)L. Exactly, though short for Allen in this case. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > it sounds like the mod note may have been inappropriate It was! I wouldn’t make up an event that actually happened; especially one that would be easy enough to fact check; I did your homework & gave you a link to a story about it. 😠 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/12 "2026-09-20T03:13:18Z")
Sorry about that. I’ll go retract the note in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/13 "2026-09-21T18:43:46Z")
> [@The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 2)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/435): > > > [@The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 2)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-2/1030892/432): > > > > I think what you are saying here is that you’ve created an AI generated image, and I’m not actually certain from what you posted whether it represents a real event or not. > > > > Please tell people unambiguously when you are posting AI images > > You think wrong! Capital A & lowercase L as in Al, short for Allen, & yes, he really did a top walk at the festival 10 days after 9/11. Here is a story about it as [proof](https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/adirondacks-almanack/dont-take-adirondack-balloon-festival-for-granted/) Yet another example of a sans-serif font leading us astray. We have high-resolution screens, let us have serifs! ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/14 "2026-09-21T23:17:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Maybe we’ll all start slashing the lowercase L to distinguish it from uppercase I. When I was writing equations by hand, I’d use a cursive letter ell to distinguish it from the numeral one. And a cursive letter ess to distinguish it from the numeral five. And a slash through the zero, different from a large circular upper-case letter oh, different from a short cursive lower-case letter oh. Which had to be loopy to distinguish it from a lower-case letter sigma. And a barred letter zee vs a numeral two. And a lower-case letter tee with right hook to distinguish it from a plus sign. Once I got to grad school \LaTeX was a game changer. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/15 "2026-09-22T00:32:38Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Yet another example of a sans-serif font leading us astray. We have high-resolution screens, let us have serifs! I am as big fan of serif fonts. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/16 "2026-09-22T01:22:11Z")
I do feel summoned… ( it’s AL-128 in my case)… not that it matters ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/17 "2026-09-22T01:24:26Z")
Welcome back. Please stay awhile. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/18 "2026-09-22T15:35:38Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Yet another example of a sans-serif font leading us astray. This has been discussed before. > [@I wish this site used serif fonts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-this-site-used-serif-fonts/985965): > > I keep reading about some guy named Al. He seems to be in a lot of threads. More recently, there’s a thread with two guys named Al having a fight, in a site owned by a third guy named Al. I’m just surprised Al Gore isn’t involved yet. [AI Trump vs AI Biden in AI-Generated Debate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-trump-vs-ai-biden-in-ai-generated-debate/985914) @Derleth provided a pretty good workaround solution. > [@I wish this site used serif fonts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-this-site-used-serif-fonts/985965/3): > > Install the Stylus extension: > > [Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/styl-us/) > > [Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylus/clngdbkpkpeebahjckkjfobafhncgmne) > > [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylus_(browser_extension)) > > And then install this Stylus extension I just wrote: > > [Click the blue Install button on the bottom right.](https://userstyles.world/style/10540/sdmb-serif-font) It’s still not an ironclad guarantee, however. In serif fonts, lowercase “l” has three serif points and capital “I” has four, so “Al” is 75% AI. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/19 "2026-09-22T15:40:29Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > The font that is used on my computer makes AI and Al basically indistinguishable to my old eyes, and I fear a similar confusion may have provoked the modnote. What about an AI that isn’t named “Deep Blue” or some such but is, instead, named “Al”? You would have Al the AI. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215/20 "2026-09-22T18:58:11Z")
I’m just confused as to why there are so many threads about Allan Iverson. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-vs-al-artificial-intelligence-vs-someone-named-albert-or-alfred/1033215.md?page=2)