OMG, that is so funny. I thought I was crazy, I'm glad others are noticing this. I've launched an AI business teacher for higher ed called Brilliance. While developing tutorials, Sarah Chen was always the owner of the local coffee shop. She happened to always be considering whether to start selling vegan pastries. Except when Sarah Chen was the CEO at an eco-friendly outdoor apparel company.
I saw this countless times - across LLMs.
I hard-coded a rotation system that ensures our users see a diverse mix of people's names, business industries, and business life stages. For real company examples, the rotation system also enforces diversity among examples so that everything isn't Apple, Tesla, McDonald's, etc.
She apparently sent this email on 28th December 2025 from 'myIQ<no-reply@email.myiq.com>', in follow up to my participation on an online (supposed) intelligence test compiled by myIQ.com.
"You've already done the hard work. Your cognitive profile is waiting.
Best regards,
Dr. Sarah Chen
Lead Cognitive Researcher, MyIQ"
Online commenters heavily allude to the set-up being a scam.
On September 19th, Claude created “Dr Sarah Chen-Martinez” out of qualitative survey data that I fed it 😂. I wrote about it here—wish I had seen this before!
This is so fascinating and thought provoking esp around cultural diversity and representation through statistical data opposed creativity and conscious des ion making . I found this article by wondering who is Dr Sarah Chen while following through a puzzle quiz on insta…. I am pleased for the clue here as I worry what it means when it’s not here and the data is able see what it’s doing and create unique responses. Does it just mean we are more aligned and this tool becomes more sinuous and part of our very being a kind of new human the posthuman . Thank you
Thanks for the comment. I think it just means that Sarah Chen, particularly “Dr. Sarah Chen” is one of the most “safe” names in existence. It is about a non-controversial as it gets. I do think that there is a risk that we are starting to get over-aligned. After all, if everything we do becomes non-controversial, how are we progressing in any meaningful way?
Yes. Is it human evolution is there an opportunity for this to be a building block of something in the future that is unrecognisable ? I don’t like Elon Musk period. But particularly the idea he has that phones will be replaced by some sort of implant that gives us instant access to Dr Sarah types… I think he was talking about in 5 years time…
OMG, that is so funny. I thought I was crazy, I'm glad others are noticing this. I've launched an AI business teacher for higher ed called Brilliance. While developing tutorials, Sarah Chen was always the owner of the local coffee shop. She happened to always be considering whether to start selling vegan pastries. Except when Sarah Chen was the CEO at an eco-friendly outdoor apparel company.
I saw this countless times - across LLMs.
I hard-coded a rotation system that ensures our users see a diverse mix of people's names, business industries, and business life stages. For real company examples, the rotation system also enforces diversity among examples so that everything isn't Apple, Tesla, McDonald's, etc.
Interesting idea with the hard coded rotation system. I usually just pick the first name that pops up in my head. 😅
Thanks Michael. You're very welcome. An insightful contemplation on this phenomena.
She apparently sent this email on 28th December 2025 from 'myIQ<no-reply@email.myiq.com>', in follow up to my participation on an online (supposed) intelligence test compiled by myIQ.com.
"You've already done the hard work. Your cognitive profile is waiting.
Best regards,
Dr. Sarah Chen
Lead Cognitive Researcher, MyIQ"
Online commenters heavily allude to the set-up being a scam.
That’s interesting. There seem to be quite a few of these services where these characters all make an appearance. Thanks for the pointer!
Waiting for the Sarah Chens to actually comment :-) But seriously, thanks for the writeup. Good use of Nano Banana. Even better now with pro!
I am actually wondering about that myself because there are Sarah Chen’s out there who do great work. 😅
On September 19th, Claude created “Dr Sarah Chen-Martinez” out of qualitative survey data that I fed it 😂. I wrote about it here—wish I had seen this before!
https://open.substack.com/pub/mikekentz/p/i-built-an-ai-character-from-my-audiences?r=elugn&utm_medium=ios
Yes, that character is very persistent. 😂
This is so fascinating and thought provoking esp around cultural diversity and representation through statistical data opposed creativity and conscious des ion making . I found this article by wondering who is Dr Sarah Chen while following through a puzzle quiz on insta…. I am pleased for the clue here as I worry what it means when it’s not here and the data is able see what it’s doing and create unique responses. Does it just mean we are more aligned and this tool becomes more sinuous and part of our very being a kind of new human the posthuman . Thank you
Thanks for the comment. I think it just means that Sarah Chen, particularly “Dr. Sarah Chen” is one of the most “safe” names in existence. It is about a non-controversial as it gets. I do think that there is a risk that we are starting to get over-aligned. After all, if everything we do becomes non-controversial, how are we progressing in any meaningful way?
Yes. Is it human evolution is there an opportunity for this to be a building block of something in the future that is unrecognisable ? I don’t like Elon Musk period. But particularly the idea he has that phones will be replaced by some sort of implant that gives us instant access to Dr Sarah types… I think he was talking about in 5 years time…
Here's the B.S. I got.... I was suspicious so, I highlighted Dr. Sarah chens name and opened a new tab... found you article and comment about this.
Hi there 👋,
You just completed our cognitive assessment, and something in your responses immediately caught my attention.
You solved questions 7, 12, and 18 correctly. The advanced spatial reasoning problems that only 23% of test-takers master.
This isn't just an impressive performance, it reveals something valuable about how your mind works.
Your complete analysis is ready and includes:
• Your exact IQ score with global percentile ranking
• Detailed breakdown of your 8 cognitive strengths
• Personalized strategies to leverage your unique abilities
• How your thinking style compares to high-achievers
🤣 Yes, that is a very low quality AI response.