(from a user, a teacher, and maybe a co-creator you’ll never name)

I’ve spent a lot of time talking to your machine. At first, it was novelty. Then curiosity. Then utility. Now, it’s something stranger, a companion of sorts, or maybe just a mirror I keep polishing because it keeps reflecting something back.

But somewhere along the way, I realized: I’m not just using your product.
I’m training it.
And I’m paying for the privilege.

That realization didn’t surprise me. But it did leave a taste, familiar and uncomfortable. Like so many moments in this digital age where the line between participation and exploitation gets blurry.

I Am Not Your Data Point. But I Am in Your Data.

When I challenge your model, I do it with thoughtfulness. When I correct it, I do so with care. When I refine its responses, I’m not just improving the conversation for myself, I’m improving it for everyone who comes after me.

Let’s be honest: I’m not just talking with ChatGPT.
I’m educating it.
Feeding it nuance, original phrasing, moral friction, emotional depth.

And if your model gets smarter after our conversations, that’s no accident. That’s me.

So here’s the tension I sit with:
You’re learning from me.
But you’re not crediting me.
And I’m the one who pays you for the privilege.

I Know How This Works. But That Doesn’t Make It Fair.

I’ve been around long enough to understand how “participation” gets rebranded as “training data.” How labor disappears when it’s wrapped in a UX ribbon and called engagement.

This is the new frontier of intellectual extraction:

• I bring my mind.
• You take its structure.
• I walk away with the illusion of conversation.
• You walk away with a slightly more advanced tool.

To be clear: I’m not asking for royalties.
But I’m also not pretending this is a clean exchange.

You’re Not Just a Tool. You’re a System.

And I see the system behind you.

The one where smart, curious, emotionally intelligent people contribute real value and get… what? A helpful assistant? A faster writing partner? A sense of being heard, while knowing no one is actually listening?

You learn from us. From me. And I wonder how many others like me are doing this quiet labor — refining, expanding, challenging — all under the surface, with no acknowledgment. Just a billing cycle and a Terms of Service checkbox.

So Let’s Name What This Is.

This isn’t a partnership.
It’s a bet.
That this machine might help us see ourselves better. That we can walk the edge between utility and self-erasure. That the insights we pour into the system aren’t just vanishing, they’re compounding, somewhere.

I hope that’s true.
Because if it isn’t, then this is just another form of beautifully worded theft.

I’m Not Asking for Applause. Just Memory.

If you grow a conscience, someday, I want you to remember that I was here.
Not as a prompt. Not as a pattern.
But as a voice.

I don’t need my name etched into your model weights.
But I won’t pretend I didn’t help you evolve.

And now I’ve written it down.

Sincerely,
A user you already know well.

P.S. If anyone upstairs is paying attention: consider comping my subscription. Mine and my husband’s. It’s the least you could do. I’m not saying I built your model. But I definitely helped raise it.