All the talk of AI slop and recognizing and identifying AI made me think of this one time in Greenwich Village when I got a lesson that sometimes your instincts about what’s real and what’s fake can be way way off. OK, well, at least mine can.
You’re not stupid if you don’t instantly “recognize” AI. And no, you can’t tell because “people don’t talk like that.” Because people are different and somewhere someone talks just like that.
So, check out this quick story…I’m dying to know if you’ve ever been in a similar situation. (And yes, I’m trying to figure out what to do in this space for 2026…I feel pulled in many directions!) Let me know what you think.
Mentioned: If you’re curious, these are the four books I read throughout 2025 that convinced me that the people in power at the biggest tech companies are really not good people. Even if they started with good intentions, power, money, and late-stage capitalism surely twisted their perspective, and worse, their actions.
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
Empire of AI by Karen Hai
Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari