Hello friends, 

I’m writing to say … we’re back! Proof News relaunches this week with a bang – an investigation into a telehealth app that is using patient therapy sessions to build an AI model. Collecting and storing these transcripts for AI training is not only creepy but also puts these sensitive conversations at risk of exposure. And we found a worst-case scenario: A court case where a woman’s therapy transcripts ended up in the hands of her former employer.

Our investigation found that the telehealth platform Talkspace has been touting to investors that it is building an AI therapy bot by compiling “one of the largest mental health data banks in the world” containing 140 million message exchanges between therapists and patients. Not only do therapists fear the es this app supplanting their threaten to supplant therapists’ work, but even just the collection of these transcripts changes the nature of the confidential relationship, as one nurse found when she was confronted with her therapy sessions in court. Read the entire investigation here.

This year, Proof is investigating how AI is changing the way we work. Models are making their way into the professions of mental health, law enforcement, hospitality workers, and so many more. So much has been written about what AI might do in the future – will it kill us all? Take our jobs?  – but less is known about what it is doing right now in people’s day-to-day lives. That's where we come in. 

Here’s what you can expect: Deep-dive enterprise reporting on AI and automation that you won’t find anywhere else. We’re known for data journalism, but this coverage requires a more human style of data collection – the type of expensive shoe-leather reporting that is harder and harder to find in the hyperactive click-driven news landscape. We’re talking to everyday people  – nurses, teachers, and call center workers – who are seeing these technologies transform their way of life.

I’m so grateful that we were able to enlist several dogged journalists in our mission. Annie Gilbertson, a former investigative reporter for Proof News and The Markup, is back, this time as managing editor. We’ve also tapped Varsha Bansal, an international journalist who has been pioneering coverage of labor and AI for years, and Rebecca Plevin, a veteran investigative reporter with expertise in labor, power, and equality. Rina Palta returned as an editor-at-large, bringing sophisticated reporting chops as well as data science prowess. As editor-in-chief, I’ll continue to shape the editorial vision of Proof and help bring accountability to Big Tech.

I want our journalism to reach people where they are. Which is why Lauren Feeney, our executive producer, remains dedicated to helping us make our enterprise and investigative reporting work accessible to those of you on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. If you want more Proof, you’ll find us regularly on these channels. It’s a big way to show your support for our work. You can also forward this newsletter to your friends – those who want to know how AI is shaping the world right now.

Perhaps you are like me: Tired of all the hype. And ready for Proof.

Yours,

Julia Angwin