From personal case to open-source tools

Imagine being told someone you love is dying, and then discovering they have been trapped in a coercive and controlling relationship. You'd turn to a number of agencies to seek help, guidance and justice. But it turns out you often need to know the 'magic words' to unlock that help.  

In this episode of Curious Business, Stephen Midgley recounts how he navigated those challenges and leaned on Chat GPT and his background as a systems architect, to do something about it - for his mum, and now for others too. What follows is equal parts heartbreaking and baffling, as Stephen moves between police, hospitals, the care system, and other agencies. Each has their own language, arcane forms and reasons to say no, it seems.

Upon being bounced between agencies, the compassion of frontline staff was undermined by broken processes, so Stephen turned to AI. What began as a query on ChatGPT became a practical set of tools that can help others facing the same awful challenges.

Stephen describes balancing his time between building crude, command-line tools with spending precious hours with his mother. The system he’s developing, named LINDA in memory of his mum, is a translator, memory bank, assistant and also a tool to support charities working in the space. He wants to make hidden pathways visible and give people the options they often aren't told about.

What we cover:

• What can happen when you ask for help
• The "password problem": how using the wrong words can lock you out of help
• Three patterns of broken systems
• The LINDA tools: Using AI to translate policy language, surface hidden options, and compare policies against your experiences
• Why AI should augment human support, not replace it
• The 'non-crime' database field and his campaign for more transparency

Links and Resources:

• The LINDA Project:
  https://www.keec.online/linda/
• Change.org petition for transparency on domestic abuse non-crime closures:
  https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-linda-and-for-every-abuse-victim-erased-from-the-system
• Stephen's original AI for the Rest of Us presentation:
  https://youtu.be/CkqwNYQIh6U?si=97nHD52r_49_j2tJ

Charities mentioned:

• AAFDA – supporting families bereaved by domestic abuse:
  https://aafda.org.uk/

Disclaimer: Stephen Midgley is not a legal professional and nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.

Thanks to Jari Worsley for sharing Stephen's 'AI For The Rest of Us' talk with me in the first place:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jariworsley/ 

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Thanks for listening.

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