Amanda Witt

What should an AI have to earn before it remembers us, persuades us, guides us, or becomes part of our lives?

Not through better prompts. Through better product decisions.

I've spent the last year building AI products and asking that same question. It has led me into product design, behavioral systems, AI governance, and human-AI relationships — and to a conviction: engagement can be taken, or it can be earned, and the industry defaults to taking.

I'm documenting the work publicly as it evolves.

The paper

The AI That Earns What It Gets

Why we classify AI products by what they claim to do, when the harms track what relationship they invite — and what they've been licensed to take. The vocabulary, the method behind it, and the evidence from two products built with both.

Read the paper
Writing
What Is the Difference Between a Sex Chatbot and a Therapy Chatbot?Essay — forthcoming
Your Product Might Be a Companion Chatbot. California Already Decided.Forthcoming
Working together

I audit the behavioral permissions AI products hold — the memory, initiation, and engagement mechanics that determine what a product becomes in a user's life, and which laws now apply to it. If you're not sure what your product holds, that's usually the sign it's worth finding out.

amanda@sarahinhawaii.com