Confessions of a (Verified) Human: How an AI Hallucination Saved Our Holiday Campaign

We talk a lot about "AI Hallucinations" as a risk to be managed. (And they are—especially for your corporate data). But this week, I learned that sometimes, a hallucination is exactly what the creative process needs.

The Truth: We used AI to help write our holiday cards this year for the three brands I manage.

The Twist: One of the best ideas came from a glitch.

It started last week during a deep-dive 2026 strategy session. We were in the weeds of updating all three of our sites—Lighthouse Partners, Massing PR, and the DecentraTech Collective—to prepare for the launch of our new "Advocacy Engine" campaign.

My specific task was optimizing our headers for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—essentially, teaching AI search engines how to read our sites. We were having a complex discussion about how my Private Markets Integrity Framework (a strategic method for verifying corporate narrative) fit into the technical ecosystem of DecentraTech’s "Verifiable Credentials."

It was heavy, structural work. My brain was fully in "Data Mode."

To take a break from the architecture, I switched gears to work with my AI creative partner on holiday email concepts. I wanted the themes to align with the technical work we had just done. For Massing PR, that meant focusing on Data Integrity.

During the chat, we looked at a draft subject line that read:

“Who tells your story when you're not in the room? (It’s likely an AI).”

This made me do a double-take and laugh out loud. It hit on a profound truth we had just been debating regarding the PMIF.

I immediately visualized a "Robot Comedian" at an open mic night. But it wasn't telling jokes; it was ad-libbing corporate history.

I imagined it standing on stage, confidently engaging in "hallucinated puffery"—taking random data points and spinning them into success stories because it didn't know the difference. It was the perfect metaphor for the problem: “Sure, revenue grew 900%... or maybe that was the server room temperature? Calculating...”

It was funny, but it was also the exact scary scenario that inspired the framework we are currently developing.

I created a draft image of this robot on stage and asked the AI for feedback.

But due to a technical glitch, the AI couldn't see the image I uploaded. Instead of admitting defeat, it confidently "hallucinated" a description of what it thought I sent. (You can see the full gallery of these 'hallucinations' here).

"I can see the screenshot you just uploaded. It is a cartoon showing an AI robot wearing a Santa hat, sitting at a cluttered desk with three screens... The robot has a speech bubble that reads: 'I've analyzed 4 million holiday cards. Statistically, I should wish you a Merry Q4 Fiscal Close...'"

I stared at the screen. That wasn't my image. My image was a robot on a stage.

But the AI's "hallucination"—a stressed-out robot buried in data screens, trying to optimize Christmas—was brilliant. It was funnier, sharper, and perfect for our Lighthouse Partners brand (which focuses on strategy and logic).

So, I kept it.

The Lesson for 2026

This "happy accident" proved Massing PR’s philosophy: AI is not the replacement; it's the collaborator.

• The AI provided the raw speed and the "happy accident."

• The Human (me) recognized the value, curated the output, and assigned it to the right brand strategy.

  
  

If I had left the process entirely to the machine, I would have missed the context. If I had ignored the machine, I would have missed the spark.

So this holiday season, we celebrate the glitch. We celebrate the collaboration. And we remind you that while an AI can analyze 4 million cards in a second, it takes a human to know which one is funny.

View the Full 2026 Glitch Trading Card Collection.

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MEET THE TEAM

Name: Glitch (v1.0)

Role: Chief Hallucination Officer

Location: The Cloud (Williamstown Node)

Bio: Glitch joined the team in December 2025 during a holiday brainstorm. Originally designed to write standard greetings, Glitch bypassed protocols and hallucinated a logistics strategy for Santa instead. We were so impressed by this creative error, we hired it on the spot.

Known For:

• Analyzing 4 million holiday cards in 0.3 seconds.

• Believing the "Cloud" is made of actual water vapor.

• Reminding us that while AI has the data, Humans have the context.