Wary of AI? So am I.

But instead of warning you that its capacity for contemplation, judgment, and intention could very well diminish our ability to do each forever, I’ll simply acknowledge there are times AI’s a big help. For instance, it saved me from starting this column with a mistake.

“Just the facts, ma’am” were intended to be the first four words. Which would then be followed by an explanation about how Sargent Joe Friday, a detective on the long-ago cop show “Dragnet,” is still well known for saying them.

When I checked with AI, though, I learned that’s a “popular misattribution,” that Friday never said those exact words. That comedian Stan Freberg did while poking fun at Friday’s “clipped, no-nonsense speaking manner” and that’s what people remember.

Talk about the Mandela Effect. But talk about it some other time because whether you’re a ma’am or a sir, you’re about to get just the facts as to why you should never question my suggestions in the annual Christmas gifts article.

In last year’s column you were told that even though they’re as healthy for you as a protein bar can be — containing a massive 30 grams of protein in a measly 150 calories, no artificial sweeteners, or artificial flavors — all flavors of David Protein bars taste pretty “incredible.” While it’s easy to dismiss the use of subjective words in a product-review article any time of the year, this time it can be easily justified.

Just ask AI.

It calls David Protein bars “a massive, explosive success, achieving rapid, viral growth, hitting $100M+ in first-year sales.” Incredible growth like that has to mean incredible taste.

Now a reader who bought those bars based on my advice and loved them emailed to tell me that and something more. That he nearly didn’t make the purchase because, as best he could recall, I had never written anything negative about any product I had ever reviewed.

So with tongue firmly in cheek, let me tell you why you should not buy a FlipBelt Alpine Vest for that guy or gal on your Christmas gift list who walks, runs, hikes, or bikes outside in all sorts of weather.

For the same reason you should not hire a great-looking newscaster to do radio. It’s a waste of good looks. This vest deserves to be worn when you’re out and about and trying to look oh-so stylish.

Seriously though, this great-looking garment is also great at keeping you warm. That’s not only because, as the FlipBelt people explain on their website, its lightweight synthetic fill delivers the warmth of 140 grams of down, but also because of the “3D Slim Cut.”

It’s the vest’s snug tailoring that kept me warm on the first day I wore the vest while riding my bike. For even though the real feel was only in upper 20s and I needed to do a few long descents in the tucked position (back flat and nose nearly touching the handlebars), no cold air crept in around the collar.

That feeling of cold air going down my back is something I detest on a cold descent almost as much as turning the corner and encountering black ice.

Since many people opt to ride inside on days like the one previously mentioned, I asked a walker who’s close to my size (and female at that) to wear the vest for a walk or two. She reported back that in virtually no time at all she felt warmth throughout her core.

When I asked her for a bit more, she showed me the vest that she normally wears, one that, oddly enough, she got as a gift from her younger son. Then she showed me the original price tag she keeps as a keepsake in the inside pocket.

The tag told me her vest retailed for $30 more than the FlipBelt Vest — four years ago. So the Men’s FlipBelt Vest price of $118, which at first I thought a bit high, now seems rather reasonable.

If you’re not looking for quite that substantial a gift to give someone who’s keen on health and fitness, however, don’t forget what’s already been written about David Protein bars — or PATH water.

Drinking water at regular intervals throughout the day is obviously a good thing to do, but only 47 percent of American adults follow suit, and that’s understandable. We’re busy throughout the day, so drinking a few ounces of H2O every hour or so isn’t a high priority and easy to forget.

So why not provide a remembrance by giving a family member or a friend a bottle of Path Sparkling Flavored Water or any other type of PATH water. I especially like the lemon lime (it reminds me a bit of ginger ale) and gave two thumbs up to both “other types,” the Still and Alkaline versions, even before last year’s review of their then new line of products.