Democracy's Source Code and Other Light-Hearted Topics
Or, finding agency in apocalyptic times.
I squeezed the bougie, expensive dog food from the pouch straight into the trash can.
I lovingly placed the empty plastic sleeve into the stainless steel bowl and presented it to my salivating puppy.
The only clue I had done anything wrong was the look of sheer betrayal in her eyes. Still unsure she’ll ever forgive me.
Friends, I’m distracted.
Hard to focus on anything, really, while I’m pretty sure we’re witnessing first-hand the beginning of the end of the Great American Experiment, as they say. I mean, there’s a random dude with literally zero government credentials and a pack of teenagers steamrolling through D.C. and now have access to like, all the moneys, so THAT’S COOL.
Anyway, after a few successful weeks off the socials, I’m now doom-scrolling through my phone (again) like it’s feeding me life-sustaining nutrients instead of anxiety-flavored poison.
(Current shocking findings are that it’s not actually sustaining anything except my growing conviction that everything is terrible forever.)
The thing about letting your dogs starve while obsessing over the state of democracy is that it doesn't actually help democracy. It just makes you feel worse while your dogs eat your shoes.
But it feels weird to talk about anything else right now. While I’m doom-scrolling, if I find anything that’s not doom, I get very annoyed and scroll past it. Like, I don’t care that you 10xed your Substack followers with this one weird Notes trick, Jessica.
I want the doom.
I want to know what’s coming so I feel prepared. I want validation of the complete shit slog that is my current mental and emotional state. And I want to know that everyone else is slogging through the shit too.
But.
Here's what I realized, staring red-eyed at my ceiling at 3am: While I can't single-handedly fix—gestures broadly at everything—I can focus on what gives me agency. What feeds me (and my dogs). What helps me keep creating even when the world feels like it's being written by a random AI plot generator with a sick sense of humor.
So I’m showing up here to write about what I said I’d write about, in spite of myself.
Because for me, it means diving deeper into understanding the tools that are reshaping our creative landscape, because that’s my field and my livelihood. Not because AI is going to save us (it won't), but because understanding it gives us choices. Agency. The power to decide how we want to use these (potentially democracy-disrupting) future-is-now machines.
I mean, think about it. The world’s oxygen supply is still replenishing after the collective gasp that followed DeepSeek’s launch of R1 last month—yes, even while entire humanitarian aid agencies are being control-alt-deleted, just ‘cuz.
The train's not stopping for our existential crisis, folks.
But when I think about it. It's actually good news.
Because while the world spins into whatever garden-fresh hell tomorrow brings, we can focus on building our own little fortress of competence. Learning which AI tools align with our values. Understanding how to spot digital manipulation and fake news. Breaking ground on our 10 Cloverfield Lane bunkers. Starting small automation projects that give us time for both civic engagement AND keeping our dogs alive.
You could think of it as democracy-proofing your creative business. Not because we're ignoring the bigger things, but because we need sustainable creative and business practices that can weather any political storm, and because we still need to make money and regular non-apocalyptic stuff like that. And there’s no reason for us to willfully stay behind in the dust, just because we’re frustrated.
So as much as my internal April Ludgate hates the icky positivity, here’s my radical suggestion: Let's keep learning. Keep creating. Keep choosing tools and platforms thoughtfully. Not despite the uncertainty, but because of it.
I've started by writing this post. Because this is part of my creative process. A ritual I do want to stick to, even when I actually don’t.
Next I’m going to keep tinkering with some new AI tools that might help me automate the parts of my work that don't require my anxiety-addled brain, and maybe an agent that will remind me that I have to stand up and stop drinking coffee at least once or twice a day.
Small steps. Practical moves. Like training a new LLM network, but for hope and self care. ☀️
What are you working on now? What’s a helpful distraction? How are you fortifying your bunker? Would love to hear from you.
🤔 Weekly Wonderings
What's something you refuse to let AI help you with, even though it probably could?
When did you last have that 'future is here' moment with technology? Was it amazing or terrifying? (It can be both.)
What's your most nostalgic Microsoft Paint memory? Wrong answers only.
If your creative process had to get a certification label, what would it say? (Example: 'Powered by Enya records on loop and hourly New York Times crossword puzzle procrastinations')
Is...everything going to be okay?
And Now, Your AI Afterparty 🤖🎉
🤪 Delightfully Chaotic Applications
Someone used ChatGPT to draft their grandmother's obituary. Before you clutch your pearls - it actually worked out okay. The AI draft “provided the scaffolding for one of life’s most personal pieces of writing.” The author of this article highlights the sentiment that “AI isn’t meant to manufacture sentimentality, but to provide a template onto which [people] can map their emotions.” I 100% agree! A blinking cursor is hard enough to look at, even when you’re not in the throes of grief. Why not let AI help us go easy on ourselves for a change.
🎨 Tools Creatives Should Actually Care About
Adobe's Acrobat AI Assistant is trying to make contracts fun and whimsical with new features that summarize agreements and translate legal-speak into human language. I think we’d all agree this is one AI hack creative’s can get behind.
🎭 Industry Drama & Plot Twists
The US Authors Guild launched a "Human Authored" certification - basically a "No Robots Were Harmed in the Making of This Book" sticker. Will this be the new "Non-GMO" label for books? How long before people start slapping it on AI work anyway?
📈 Major Platform Updates
Microsoft Paint got an AI upgrade with new Copilot integration, combining AI tools like CoCreator and Generative Erase in one spot. Our childhood drawing app is all grown up and I’m not crying, you are.