Join our grassroots campaign to let women know about the CREATE Conference. Got 5K+ followers across your social channels? Be one of the first 30 to join our influencer program. We’ll pay $10 per LinkedIn post and are open to other collabs—think newsletters, DM campaigns, even podcast guest spots. We’ll provide ready-to-use assets to make it easy. Interested? Contact Kate@SheLeadsAI.ai.
Hi Reader,
I’ve been thinking about how we gather—not in the formal, scheduled sense, but in unexpected, beautifully human ways. Someone drops a link. Someone else logs on sweaty and under-caffeinated. And somehow, we’re all there, orbiting a hot topic or a MOMENT that matters (Meta last week, for example).
It’s never seamless. But we need REAL these days. Especially now, when change is relentless and the rules keep shifting mid-game. And we expect ourselves to keep pace....shout out to Dr. Claire Jacobs, who coached us on imposter syndrome and AI this weekend at Social Saturday.
I’ve been craving rooms that don’t require a polished pitch or a perfect take. Where it’s okay to say “I don’t know yet,” and that's relevant.
That’s what we’re creating here. A place where presence matters more than performance. A room where you can arrive as your whole human self.
If that kind of space sounds like something your nervous system might say yes to—come closer. Whether it's Social Saturday or one of our courses or joining us at the CREATE Conference October 11-14 in Salt Lake City!
System Override - Leadership In Motion, Not Theory
Brought to you by She Leads AI and the Empowered by AI Podcast Attendees will have a chance to win:
A free month's membership to She Leads AI ($29) and receive a one on one introduction to the Mighty Networks community with Michelle Muncy-Silva.
Empowered by AI hoodie!
She Leads AI swag!
You must be present to win—so hang out with us after the lunch break!
✍️ Featured Writer
For the month of August, we’re excited to feature Karen Smiley, who brings deep technical insight and a strong voice for ethics, safety, and equity in the evolving AI landscape.
Please enjoy part 3 below. (Missed parts 1 & 2? You can find them here.)
We Use AI and AI Uses Us: Five Everyday AI Ethics Concerns
by Karen Smiley
Last week, I shared five everyday AI & data risks that we all face at home or work. Now let’s take a quick look at why ethical concerns are emerging more often in discussions about AI, and what we can do.
Concern 1. Adverse Environmental Impacts: Data centers consume important natural resources while being built and while operating (AI training and inferencing). Mining for rare earth materials is often exploitative. More efficient AI algorithms and thoughtful use of genAI tools can reduce the impact.
Concern 2. Unethical Data Sourcing: AI models consume data. Most current AI tools are built on data that was obtained unethically. Look for emerging tools that get their data ethically, protect people’s privacy, and still succeed in generating high-quality outputs.
Concern 3. Exploitation of Data Workers: AI tools need human labor to make the data useful. Many companies exploit workers through unfair labor practices and poor working conditions that damage people’s mental health. Increased visibility of these practices is helping, although most data tasking companies still fail to observe Fairwork principles.
Concern 4. Harmful Model Biases: We all have biases we may or may not be aware of. Harmful human biases can be worsened in AI by how data is sourced & labeled and how AI models are built. For example, health issues in women or people of color may be misdiagnosed. Well-designed AI tools combined with our awareness of biases can help to counteract them.
Concern 5. Impact on Lives and Livelihoods: AI has great potential to help humans with day-to-day home and work. It can destroy people’s ability to make a living, or harm children or our mental health; deep fakes can scam us or damage social interactions. We need to adapt quickly and protect the use of our data.
Next week, I’ll share 5 tips for practical, concrete actions we can all take to protect ourselves, our families, and our businesses and make the most of AI tools.
These five ethical concerns and much more are covered in my upcoming book, “Everyday Ethical AI: A Guide For Families & Small Businesses”. To learn more about these issues and automatically get fresh weekly articles and news about everyday ethical AI, subscribe here.
Karen Smiley is an AI leader, innovator, ethicist, data strategist, and author. She is currently applying her 30+ years of experience in software engineering and AI as a founding core team member and the Chief Software Systems Architect at KeeperSpace. Karen also leads the SheWritesAI community, hosts the "AI, Software, & Wetware" interview series and podcast, and champions everyday ethical AI and inclusion in her newsletters. Subscribe here to automatically get fresh weekly articles and news about her upcoming book, “Everyday Ethical AI: A Guide For Families & Small Businesses”.
📢 Women in AI Making an Impact
Christina Rava empowers coaches and solo service providers to build profitable, lifestyle-aligned businesses through digital products and AI tools. With 8+ years in digital strategy, she blends marketing, automation, and systems to help clients create signature offers and streamline content. Her tech-driven, human-first approach enables earning without burnout. Christina shares her strategies weekly on YouTube, offering practical, behind-the-scenes insights for sustainable success.
Diane Kjellgren is a Learning & Development leader advancing AI-driven education through her role with SHE IS AI Magazine. With deep expertise in curriculum design and vocational training, she’s boosted completion and employment outcomes at organizations like The Lord’s Place. Armed with advanced degrees and bilingual fluency, Diane integrates educational technology and personalized strategies to create inclusive, high-impact learning experiences across diverse communities.
Dr. Melissa L. Brown is driving AI adoption and professional development as the Learning & Development leader at Holland & Hart LLP. With a doctorate in Organizational Leadership and a track record at Sutherland and Conduent, she excels in AI integration, talent development, and strategic leadership. Fluent in English and Spanish, Dr. Brown champions responsible generative AI use to elevate workplace learning and performance across industries.
📅 Mark Your Calendars
August 21, 3-4pm PDT Learn Out Loud with Cyndi Coon and Suzanne Welker Jurgens at the AI Salon:AI Prototyping – Merchandise SPRINT. These incredible women will guide you through the full journey of turning AI-generated ideas into real-world merchandise—no design experience required.
Behind the Hot-Take Factory: How We’re Winning with ChatGPT-5
Everyone has an opinion about ChatGPT-5. Love it, hate it, miss the old models—most of what’s out there is noise. This session is about what’s real: tested prompts, proven workflows, projects that deliver. Together, we’ll surface what works, capture it, and shape it into a living Field Guide to ChatGPT-5.
Bring your best examples, use cases, and insights from the trenches. Skip the takes. Share the evidence. Leave with practices you can apply and a collective guide we’re building together. What You’ll Take Away
A shared Field Guide. We’ll publish a collective resource built from the examples and strategies shared in this session.
Tested practices. Real prompts, workflows, and approaches you can apply immediately.
Clarity on when to use ChatGPT-5 vs. legacy models. Learn how others are navigating the shift and applying the right model for the task.
Register now at SheLeadsAI.ai — or, if you already have the link, come on down.
CREATE Speaker Series - Live Panel Discussion August 28th, 9-10am (Pacific) Anne Murphy sits down with Vanessa Chang, Marki Lemons Ryhal, and Rachel Njiru to talk about people, process, and culture in the AI era. This is part three of our CREATE Speaker Series featuring guests slated to speak at the CREATE Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah this October 11-14th. Watch live on YouTube.
AI FOUNDATIONS FOR WOMEN- $17 August 29th or September 19th 4:00-5:30pm (Pacific) Special: Register for one seat, get free registration for a friend! Show up with a curious mind... that's it. We got you.
Special Offer: Join the She Leads AI Society for $297 for the first year, and get $100 off your conference registration through September 7th.
For the month of August, Vikki Baptiste and Kate Rivera will both tell the same story from their own perspectives, using MidJourney as the tool, and exploring different style references (srefs) along the way.
The Prompt: Part 3: The archive begins to glitch—visions bleed together. A robotic curator appears, holding a sealed file labeled ‘Do Not Open.’ The traveler’s face appears on the file. Style: glitchcore, digital decay, eerie glow
Vikki's Image:
--sref 4127302350 –chaos 20 –stylize 700
Kate's Image:
--sref 1135932637 --chaos 15 --v 7 --stylize 250
Vikki Baptiste is a Consultant at the AI Center of Excellence at A J RHEM & ASSOCIATES INC, where she drives enterprise content strategy through AI and knowledge management. Founder of Three Bees Digital, she merges NLP, UX writing, and ethical tech to elevate digital ecosystems. With deep expertise in AI-powered content and DEIB-informed design, Vikki is reshaping how organizations communicate, learn, and lead in the AI era. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Kate Rivera is the Community Manager at She Leads AI, where she brings a rich blend of community building, marketing, and operations expertise. With a career spanning human resources to agribusiness and nonprofit leadership, Kate excels at creating meaningful connections and scaling AI-driven communities with purpose and impact. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
🎙️Podcast Updates
Empowered by AI: The SLAI Effect with Michelle Muncy-Silva
AI is the new influencer: Visibility Strategies Your business needs to stay visible. In this episode of Empowered by AI, Diane Hammons shares simple blog tweaks, an overlooked website secret, and a one-hour-a-week challenge to keep your content credible and human.
The AI Readiness Project with Anne Murphy and Kyle Shannon
What Makes Us Human: Reimagining Intelligence In this episode of The AI Readiness Project, Vanessa Chang explores how broadening our view of intelligence—valuing diverse ways of thinking and slowing down—can reshape leadership and create more human-centered AI.
The AI Readiness project is now available on Apple, Spotify, and all your favorite podcast streaming platforms! Please give us a like and follow, and share with your friends!
Thanks for being here with us!
Warmly,
Anne Murphy Founder, SheLeadsAI Founder and CEO, Empowered Fundraiser Consulting and Coaching
You're receiving The SLAI Effect Newsletter because you signed up for it during AI Festivus registration, or through one of our other channels. Contact Us: sheleadsai.ai | kate@sheleadsai.ai She Leads AI and the She Leads AI Society 1510 NW Menlo Dr, Corvallis, OR 97330 📧 Edit Email Preferences to opt in or out of specific types of emails, or Unsubscribe from all emails, including event reminders & messages about events or products you paid for.
