This week, 404 Media reported that University of Washington researchers planned to have preschool teachers wear body cameras to record children for AI model training. Parents received a permission form. The program was opt-out, not opt-in. The consent architecture raised immediate flags. But the deeper is that it was approved.

A few months ago I ended a consulting gig on my terms. I had built a brand strategy from scratch, a business development framework, nearly 20 years of experience poured into work that was meant to last. Then I was told: "AI said to do marketing this way." That was the whole argument. And it pointed at something much bigger than one bad meeting.