Essay

A Pension for the Trained-On

My daughter is graduating from college this spring with a degree in music therapy. In the next ten years, an AI will be trained on her body of work. Without asking her. Without paying her.

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Signal-OS

The daily briefing for trainers, coaches, and educators navigating an AI-shaped economy. Issues 001 onward are live. Donation-based. Signal over noise.

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Meditations on Meliorism — Essays on the philosophy: what Meliorism 2.0 is, what subtraction requires, the human advantage in an AI era. Published when there's something worth saying.

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Questions about the writing

What is Meditations on Meliorism?

A Substack publication for essays on the philosophy of Meliorism 2.0 — what it is, what subtraction requires, the human advantage in an AI era, and the patterns Brian notices in advisory work. Published when there is something worth saying, not on a schedule. Read it on Substack →

What is "A Pension for the Trained-On" about?

An essay about AI training data and the people whose work gets absorbed into models without consent or compensation. It opens: "My daughter is graduating from college this spring with a degree in music therapy. In the next ten years, an AI will be trained on her body of work. Without asking her. Without paying her." Read it →

How is the writing different from Signal-OS?

Signal-OS is daily and practical — oriented to what trainers, coaches, and educators need to know right now about AI and their field. The Substack essays are slower and more philosophical — concerned with the deeper questions about Meliorism 2.0, human agency, and what the AI era means for the irreplaceable parts of human work.