When AI Feels Unsafe

You may be feeling uneasy with how AI is showing up within small business spaces. Today I talk about what I have noticed and ways you can take steps to feel more safe.

Need some perspective? I offer Fresh Air Coaching sessions at https://findingsanctuarycoaching.com

Transcript

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00:09
Hi, this is Katie, and thank you for joining me on the Creating Your Sanctuary podcast, and this is a podcast about those little moments and space that support you.

00:18
And today I'm going to talk about a hot button topic, which is AI, but I'm framing it in the perspective of how you may be feeling unsafe when you are encountering it in multiple ways.

00:37
So, I have been dabbling with it for a while now.

00:43
It's not something that I'm trying to avoid.

00:46
It's not something I'm trying to dive in deep into.

00:49
It's something I'm trying to look at objectively.

00:52
and see what tools I can use to help me or hinder me.

00:58
Like, I do notice that I can become more reliant on it or that my idea, generation, I become dependent on it to, like, try to form my own perspective, and I feel like that feels a little unsafe for me.

01:18
Um, but I'm also talking about it on the receiving end.

01:23
So, I think we've all seen many types of AI images online and being a small business owner, I do see a lot of small businesses using this.

01:36
And it saves time, right?

01:39
And it makes something look higher end, then something that we can just throw together sometimes.

01:45
I have to say I'm incredibly lucky that I have been doing graphic design and a lot of design work for a long time, over 20 years, and So I can count on that cornerstone for my business that what I put out there.

02:03
I feel confident about.

02:04
And so I do think it comes from, well, I want to feel confident, about the materials I'm putting out there.

02:13
And they found a shortcut.

02:15
They found a way to put these images out that all look, start looking the same, right?

02:24
I look through them and I'm like, wow, these are these all from the same business? And then I realize, no, like when I 1st started seeing them. And now I just recognize them as like, okay, I don't even actually know what is generating them.

02:38
I think it's very clod adjacent because it has that styling.

02:43
You can kind of tell what's been generated from Claude, because there is this kind of unique look to it.

02:52
Everything's a little off white.

02:53
Everything has more of an editorial font to it.

02:56
Um, it's more organized and the, the fonts are more clear.

03:02
But in that sameness, you are left wondering, how are, how is that business thinking of you as a consumer? Are you just a commodity to them?

03:16
Are you just a number to them?

03:17
Are they just trying to cut?

03:20
You know, corners or are they just so busy that they don't have time?

03:25
And I've encountered this in multiple ways.

03:28
There's there's one person I was following online who owns a record store and they put out something like this and they got a lot of bad feedback because they sell old vinyls.

03:39
And they're like, you're not respecting the artist.

03:43
You're talking about loving, you know, the artwork on vinyl covers and and, you know, sourcing artists to create things. And here, all of a sudden, you put out this flyer, that you made in 5 minutes because you used AI, and the owner was kind of taken aback, like, why is this such a, such a backlash for me and people were forming them.

04:11
Like, look, it just seems a little disingenuous because of what kind of product you're selling, which is all about art and not taking things from artists and um, reusing them.

04:27
And here you just made a flyer about it.

04:30
And the flyer was not specifically to their store.

04:33
It was kind of for an event, but the owner just kept saying, I didn't have time.

04:40
And all of a sudden, I'm getting a bunch of bad reviews.

04:44
I'm getting all this.

04:45
And so,

04:47
You just have to take that feedback in and go, wait a minute.

04:51
I think I misstepped here.

04:53
There's something going on, and there's this visceral reaction, especially if your audience that you're trying to connect to, is all about the artwork and all about creators and creative people, and you can't just throw some AI at them, in my opinion.

05:16
Uh, because they're going to know this right away.

05:19
And if they don't, they can feel like something is off.

05:23
And so as a consumer,

05:25
That's just one example of like a business.

05:28
Um, But as a consumer, when you're getting like at least 5, at least, I have to say, just browsing social media and everything, I get at least 5 AI ads every day.

05:42
And I don't, I'm not spending a ton of time on there, but I recognize them when they pop up and I'm just like, okay, I don't think I feel safe around this brand.

05:52
If this is what they want to view me as, then I'm going to step away and it can be quiet steps away.

06:00
You don't have to, like, make a big deal about it.

06:04
But I want to give you permission to go, okay, this is not who I thought.

06:10
This brand was.

06:12
And if you want to try to return to them in the future, or if you do want to say something to them, it could be like, look, I don't appreciate, you know, how I feel when I see your ads.

06:23
I'm going to take break.

06:25
You know?

06:26
Um, Certainly voice your opinion if you feel like it's important for them to know in a constructive way, just like, hey, I've been following you for years, I've been enjoying this.

06:39
All of a sudden you've kind of switched or you've gradually switched and just doesn't feel right.

06:44
This is why I'm going to take a step back.

06:47
I hope to reconnect with you in the future if you want to be have an authentic channel to me, right?

06:56
It's about having that authentic conversation back and forth as someone who is valued and the business is valued.

07:05
And I'm picturing this more along the lines of small businesses.

07:11
Because I think a lot of large businesses.

07:13
They're just using it all over the place anyway.

07:16
I mean, there's definitely like Photoshop will generate AI portions of photos now.

07:26
I mean, they've been doing that for a while, but it's to the point where, yeah, it's generating the whole thing.

07:32
And how authentic is that?

07:34
So what kind of authentic conversations are going on between business and consumer, or business to business because I own a small business.

07:44
How am I having these conversations with others?

07:47
Um, I just find it really interesting to look at that and look at how I feel safety wise.

07:54
Um, because it does.

07:56
It triggers those kind of little alarm bells in your head of like something doesn't feel right.

08:01
Even though like the imagery can be very cheery and very like, maybe it's it's also feels a little plasticky and a little too Disneyland-esque or just a little too uncanny valley or just something and that sets off alarm bells in your head of just like this doesn't feel right.

08:24
And you are allowed to step away from that weather silently or constructive criticism wise.

08:30
However you want to handle that, um, but taking a step into backing away from it.

08:40
Other things I've noticed in groups and some other small businesses is that there is,

08:48
You know, we always want to, as a business, want to be seen as a resource, right?

08:55
To have value that you're offering your customers.

08:58
And it's something to say like, hey, you know, come here if you have this question.

09:06
I can have answers for you.

09:09
And that's been that way for quite a while.

09:12
And when you don't have those answers or you don't have well thought out answers or if your answers have holes in it, you feel a little vulnerable, I think.

09:22
But that's also just natural.

09:24
Like 30 years ago, you didn't have the answer to every single question.

09:29
But it's something that you could do research on and at least share your expertise.

09:34
And now, it's gotten to the point where people want to set up whole websites. And I'm not immune to this.

09:42
I'm trying to like figure out the balance for myself as well.

09:45
But they're setting up AI sites that collect information from other websites, sometimes they're government sites, that are feeding information so that people can make decisions.

10:03
And sometimes, that information can be a bit off.

10:07
Sometimes that information is very indecipherable.

10:12
It's like, just a wall of text.

10:15
Like that's all that's there, because that's all they can do with the information.

10:20
They can maybe generate one image, but There is no step by step because it's all being generated and they're saying like, well, this is where you come. If any information changes, it'll update automatically here.

10:35
And it's like, well, Okay.

10:38
Okay, but who's using your site?

10:41
I come from a long background of that was my core of how do you use a website?

10:48
That's my, and I think this is why it really gets, to me, is that,

10:55
I want people to find information easily to use that information to not land on a site and go, I don't know what to do here.

11:08
And then, you'll see in your analytics and your your heat maps, your click maps and whatever of like what people do, when they land on your site and when they leave, like what's going on there.

11:23
You can definitely analyze that and go, well.

11:27
This, um, 2000 word article is not going to help anybody. If you don't have something to break it up to something to organize the content or anything,

11:39
And so I understand it can be like the beginning of sites, but...

11:46
It also is something where I was trying to contribute to a Facebook group because I do connect with other people and clients there.

11:57
And someone was asking specific questions.

12:00
So I answered them.

12:01
I took a half hour to look at documents to make sure that what I was answering was truthful and accurate because there had been a change.

12:12
Um, in the forms.

12:15
And so I went through page by page and was able to answer back pretty quickly because this person wanted to submit something and was like, I don't know what to do.

12:26
This is very important.

12:27
Everything relies on this and so I wanted to be helpful.

12:30
And so I answered them, and they definitely, um, were able to use that information, and of course, I said, your situation may vary.

12:42
Please look through it on your own, like I can't guarantee because everyone's different, right?

12:47
And the next day, the group leader put out this AI article on how to do this the right way with all these, like, wizards or little options that you check to see, like, which pages to do and all the stuff, and now there's this tool that they can, like, point to, and it's like, but you go to the page and it's not usable.

13:16
especially on, on, um, your phone, which is, you know, usually 80% of site visits, if they're mainly, usually if they're just like content size.

13:31
And so I just, I shake my head and I'm just like, so, this is my, you know, kind of example of, well, is AI coming to take my job.

13:44
And I look at them and go, well, I know half the people in this group were just kind of turned off by that whole thing.

13:52
Uh, especially because a person I helped actually chimed in on that new post and said, well, this person helped me last night and it was great and I was able to send off what I needed to today and like they had no time to walk through that huge long article and wizard that wouldn't work on a phone and that's what most people use when they're moving.

14:14
So, you know, I'm throwing my hands up in the air.

14:19
Um, and Although I don't like that emoji, the one when you have your hands up in there, um, I'll get into that another time, but I just suddenly I didn't feel safe in the group because it's this message of, well, AI is inevitable and we want to monetize things here.

14:42
And so let's just push your human interaction aside, like I was tempted to look at these new forms and compare them in AI.

14:51
But I didn't have access to AI at that moment.

14:54
I'm like, okay, well, I'm just gonna manually look through this and collect and put eyes on this, actual eyes on this.

15:03
and see if I can help this person.

15:06
And I just, I felt really good the next day that the other person did chime in.

15:11
Um, But yeah, it's it's something that's going to be happening in a lot of Facebook groups, a lot of small businesses.

15:20
Because, you know, you want to, especially, American businesses, you get overly protective of your business and you're like, well, I'm out here by myself.

15:33
I'm an individual.

15:35
I can't, you know, I have to compete with everyone. And being in Europe here, it's about connecting with other people.

15:43
Um, And if you're new to this podcast, I moved to the Netherlands about a year ago.

15:49
Just wanted to insert that there.

15:51
Um, and I found to make connections with other people.

15:56
And to know that this isn't about competition and that when you work together, it makes you stronger.

16:03
I mean, I've had to shed that kind of feeling.

16:06
Um, in order to work here, and I've met great people here, and the Dutch way of doing business is through relationships.

16:19
And that's been so healing for myself.

16:22
So as we come back to the AI feeling.

16:26
It's just, I can feel, like some of that individualism is getting amplified because the people who code AI, a lot of them are coming from, like there is AI in other countries, but the main ones were coded in the US.

16:45
By their creators and I can see, you know, using it in others using it, the biases that are just ingrained in all of this.

16:57
The, you are the individual, you are the best in the world.

17:01
You are this, like the AI just props you up, right?

17:05
It's saying, 0 yeah, that's the best idea ever.

17:07
You should totally do that.

17:08
And then you say, no, that's a horrible idea.

17:11
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a horrible idea.

17:13
I don't know why you'd want to do that.

17:14
Like, You know, we've all kind of experienced that if you've dabbled in AI.

17:20
So, to return back to this, it's just, If you are feeling this unsafe outlook.

17:30
If you're like feeling these little twinges every now and then of like, mm, I don't know if that makes me feel good.

17:38
trust that.

17:40
Really trust it and try to dig a little deeper into it.

17:44
Because there's something really honest in your body, that there's permission to step away from that.

17:50
There's permission to find another resource that doesn't make you feel that way.

17:55
Um, I mean, corporations are going to be corporations, and sometimes you have to pick the lesser of 2 evils, or just try to migrate, to something simpler, that maybe takes you a tiny bit more time.

18:12
But it's going to be better for you in the long run and it makes you feel good.

18:17
That's why I do this podcast is about those little moments, all the time, that are creating safety and sanctuary within your day.

18:26
And I believe, you know, that's why I felt really convicted to talk upon this today because there are these little moments I'm feeling unsafe.

18:36
This, oh, well, AI is inevitable.

18:40
You have to do it.

18:41
And that's not a safe feeling.

18:43
That's not a safe perspective to have around AI.

18:46
Because that's a very I won't go into the exact wording of it.

18:53
But it's not a consent culture to say it's inevitable.

19:00
You have to do it.

19:00
It's like, no, I don't have to.

19:03
And that's why a lot of people, creatives 1st are just sounding the alarm bells because, you know, they're work is getting eaten up.

19:13
It's getting scraped.

19:14
It's getting, um, consumed by these AI.

19:17
Um, data centers and They're, you know, the canaries that have been yelling this from the very beginning.

19:27
And then the more and more you go, you see just how much disruption is going on there.

19:34
So if you say that you love handcrafted things, if you say you love the craft and you say that, That is really important to support small businesses. And yet you're making them feel unsafe.

19:50
What does that say?

19:52
So I'm just saying, like, as a business owner, I have a responsibility for what I put out, to make others feel safe.

20:00
And make decisions on what I'm going to consume and what I'm going to support.

20:07
Because I love handcrafted things.

20:10
You know, being in the journal and planner world.

20:15
You know, I love the feel of a leather cover.

20:19
I love the feel that somebody made this.

20:21
I love the feel of crafting things on paper.

20:26
And pasting things together and jotting down, you know, what you did that day and putting images on there that consist of your life.

20:40
And, you know, if you want to use extra AI to enhance that in any way, that's your business, right?

20:50
I'm not dictating any of that.

20:52
What I'm giving you permission to do.

20:55
is if you are feeling these things.

20:58
And you want to feel more centered and grounded in who you are and your values.

21:04
This is your permission slip to be you, to be authentic, to use tools that may just use your hands or may just allow you to type something out in a document that's not connected to AI in any kind.

21:22
But I also think there is a world that you can use it a bit.

21:29
But be very, very conscious of, well, maybe this helped you generate some ideas.

21:35
But it's not going to really, truly fact check it.

21:38
It's not really truly going to be something that you can rely on.

21:42
Without doing your own due diligence.

21:45
And you are responsible for when you put that content out in the world that it's accurate and that it's making others feel safe and included and valued.

21:57
So.

21:59
That is what I wanted to share.

22:01
I'll probably go into this on another episode down the line.

22:05
But it just was very much on the top of my heart and I just wanted to get it out and I do know that this podcast is partly my healing journey as well through all of this and I verbally process and I want to thank you for being part of that.

22:22
And I do want to hear from you.

22:25
There are ways to get in contact with me.

22:26
Um, my email and um, connection, you know, through the podcast here.

22:33
I would love to hear from you.

22:35
How do you feel about some of this?

22:37
What are examples that you've come across that you just do not feel?

22:41
Like that's okay?

22:43
Um, because I think we need to kind of collect some of these and talk about them.

22:49
And also make decisions on what makes you do feel more safe.

22:54
And if you need some help, you know, deciphering that. If you're just like, I don't know where to start, but like a lot of these tools are feeling unsafe to me, just get in contact with me.

23:06
I do some coaching on the side and I would love to step you through that.

23:10
But if you don't need it, you don't need it, right?

23:12
But I just want to offer it there in case it just feels like way too much.

23:18
Because for autistic, neurodivergent ADHD brains,

23:22
It can feel very confusing and very overwhelming with this kind of content coming at you and you're just like, I don't know how I feel about this.

23:32
And so sometimes I sit down with people and we just go through it and make an action list of where to go forward with that.

23:41
And I want to be clear, I have used AI and am continuing to use it in spots, but I am reconsidering what I'm using it for and how I'm using it and I've spent the last couple weeks kind of thinking like, how can I use this to make people feel good and not feel like I'm being inauthentic to them.

24:02
So however you're Creating Your Sanctuary right now, whether you're stepping away from some advertisements, whether you are unfollowing some accounts or whether you're trusting your gut on something today, it's enough.

24:18
I'll see you next time.