When the Pope Speaks...


Hi Reader,

There are lots of thoughts spinning around in my brain at any given moment. Maybe you can relate. We're kind of living in whirlwind times where information is coming at us incessantly; it's like being caught up in a tornado.

There's just no way to catch your breath and really marinate on anything for too long.

So here are a few things I'm trying to give a little bit more thought and attention to these days:

  • What impact will Pope Leo's AI encyclical have on governments, tech leaders, and society as a whole? If you missed it, the Pope warned that AI technology must be 'disarmed' before it weakens human relationships, critical thinking, and peace itself.

    Chris Olah, Anthropic co-founder, also spoke and admitted engineers should not be responsible for setting the ethical and moral guidelines for AI as they are incentivized by ambition, competition, and financial pressure.

    So, are we seeing a real groundswell movement to quell the unfettered invasiveness of AI across all areas of life? I sure hope so, but I do wonder whether the right people are paying attention.
  • Having lived through a lot of entrepreneurial moments, movements, and mantras (think girl-bossing and leaning in), the current backlash against high profile female celebrity-preneurs who are warning that women must adopt AI or be left behind is truly refreshing.

    What's their ulterior motive for going all in on AI? I'm not sure, but a lot of these folks were also shilling for crypto and NFTs back when they were the It thing, and that tells me all I need to know about the level of trust and faith I want to invest in their advice. I'm glad I'm not alone.
  • I don't know about you but I've gotten so many email updates to privacy policies these days, my head is spinning. Why might this be? Because everyone wants to help themselves to our data and content and use it however they see fit. Whether that's to train LLMs, sell it, or employ it in ads.

    I always advise that you read the fine print on any contract, but now, more than ever, you really need to understand what you're signing up for and, more importantly, signing away your rights to. It's the only way to make smart decisions that protect your information and intellectual property.

I realize between last month's post and this one, I may sound like an AI alarmist, but I promise you I do see the benefit of this tech, just not without any regulation and protections.

In fact, I'm already working on some AI wins—ways small and micro businesses are using the tech wisely to drive sales and customer satisfaction—for next month. So, stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you'd like some help focusing in on and prioritizing your business growth strategy with and without AI assistance, let's talk.

Until next time,

PS—If you missed it, last month I wondered Is It a Feature or a Bug?


Today I signed the contract with ABC for Good Morning America's Deals and Steals, and I am so thankful for all your help with this!! You've been so amazingly supportive! A huge part of being able to even come across such an opportunity is having had the pleasure to learn so much from you.

Belianna Krashi, Founder, Teal Meal LLC


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Easily Said & Done

I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?

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