I screwed up. I'm sorry.

Hey there,

I owe you all an apology. Yesterday I tried to schedule my first ad/sponsored content yesterday and it was a giant fail.

I scheduled things wrong, so there was no ad, and it was confusing.
More importantly, I learned some things about Superhuman as a company that are not aligned with my values. I didn't do my homework.

I'm sorry and won't be running ads unless I love the product and think you will too. If anyone has contacts at Nooworks clothing or at the Chani astrology app, and think that they would sponsor me, please reach out 😉

My librarian friend Carmen Mitchell gave me some direct feedback:

I always enjoy reading your newsletter! But when you mentioned the sponsored content from Superhuman, I felt cranky. I do not like it...I know that consent is a huge thing for you. Superhuman the company doesn't respect the idea of consent.They launched an AI tool to provide so-called "expert writing advice" from actual experts without getting permission from any of those experts! They're currently facing a class action lawsuit from this little stunt. It was walked-back fairly quickly after many of the writers whose personas were co-opted complained. Let me know if that Wired article is paywalled for you, I have a subscription. Here's a Guardian article about it as well.

I also don't like that you are aligning yourself and your brand with AI tools. These tools are hugely problematic! Not just for the harm that many of their data centers cause the environment, but because they (literally) make humans more stupid and less able to think critically, they were built with stolen content (131 lawsuits and counting!) LLMs/AI further racist ideals, exploit vulnerable people, and so, so much more. Torie Quinonez and I published a zine about all the different problems with AI tools this past Spring.

Check out Torie and Carmen's zine

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