What’s your AI optimizing for, and how does it know it’s off course? A guide for strategic leaders building systems that learn.
This piece explores de-escalation as a survival skill – not just for crisis teams, but for leaders navigating tension, trust, and power dynamics in real time.
A letter for those who design systems that don’t punish forgetting but protect against it, this one’s for the builders of trust.
A field note for those who know that better decisions rarely come from consensus, but from learning to hold contradiction, and keep moving forward.
A letter for the ones rising with quiet strength after years of muted mics and invisible resilience.
A field note on what AI actually is, why it keeps getting smarter, and how systems learn – even when we don’t see it happening.
A letter for the ones who were called “too much,” when they were simply tuned too finely for broken systems.
A letter to those who don’t chase influence, they carry infrastructure. Strategic stillness. Unseen power.
A letter for the leaders forged in pressure, not praise – the ones whose fire became light for others.
A letter for the ones balancing forecasts and lunchboxes. For the parents who whisper hope into bedtime while holding the weight of the world. You are seen, and you are doing more than enough.
The Human Margin Clarity System by Emi Linds is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Disclaimer
The Human Margin Clarity System and the Human Margin for AI is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, financial, technological, or professional advice. While the concepts presented are intended to support ethical leadership and responsible innovation, implementation of this framework is at the sole discretion and responsibility of the user. No guarantees are made regarding specific outcomes. The author disclaims all liability for actions taken based on this material.
Emi Linds is a strategist, creative technologist, and author of The Human Margin for AI – a framework for responsible AI, organizational clarity, and narrative-led systems change. She writes at the intersection of human-centered AI, empathy design, and ethical innovation. Based in Canada, Emi lives with her husband and they are raising two tiny future innovators.
Designed with heart️ by Emi Linds
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilinds/